


Karasuno's 12

by disaster_by_chance



Category: Haikyuu!!, Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 78,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disaster_by_chance/pseuds/disaster_by_chance
Summary: Daichi Sawamura is a man of action. After 24 hours into his parole, he already has thought of a plan for his next big gig. Robbing three casinos in Las Vegas. He only has three rules: Don't hurt anybody. Don't steal from people who don't deserve it. And play the game like you've got nothing to lose.
Comments: 55
Kudos: 62





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome to my Haikyuu meets Ocean's movie AU! Fingers crossed that I actually go through with this and finish it. Hope you like it!
> 
> Also, shout out to @RuneOak for beta reading it first and helping me fix up some things!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 24 hours out on parole and Daichi Sawamura is already making plans for his next heist. In order to pull it off, he's going to need help from his partner in crime, Sugawara Koushi.

p It was just like any other day in the prison-cold, dark, guards making a fuss-but Daichi couldn’t care less. It didn’t matter that his cellmate had been yelling all night at some other guy, it didn’t matter that the cop who escorted him in the mornings always came at the crack of dawn, and banged his baton on the cell bars. None of that mattered to him anymore.

Because he was getting out. 

After five long years in that stinkin’ prison, he was going to get out. 

He had to bite down a smile as he walked over to the single chair in the dimly lit room. The parole officers might suspect something if Daichi showed any signs that he wasn’t remorseful about his previous crimes. He was a professional, he wasn’t going to let one wary emotion mess up his chances for release. 

“Good morning,” the woman in front of him greeted as Daichi took a seat in the chair. 

“Morning,” Daichi acknowledged with a nod, clasping his hands together. 

The lady brought out some files and a recording device from her bag. Her watchful eyes didn’t leave Daichi until she looked down at the device and pressed ‘record’. 

“Please state your name for the record,” she asked, clicking a pen. 

“Daichi Sawamura,” Daichi answered simply. 

She gave a strained smile and a short nod, “Thank you.” She jotted a few quick things down before looking back up at Daichi. “Sawamura-san, the purpose of this hearing is to determine whether, if released, you are likely to break the law again.” 

Daichi raised an eyebrow. 

“While this was your first conviction,” she started again, pulling out a paper from the file and glancing over it, “you have been implicated,” she paused, “though never charged in over a dozen other confidence schemes and frauds.” She looked past her glasses and the file papers at Daichi, a disapproving frown on her face that reminded Daichi too much of his mother. 

There was another pause before she lowered the paper and leaned forward a bit in her chair, “What can you tell us about this?” 

Daichi waited, licking his lips before shifting around and taking a breath, “Well, as you say, sama, I was never charged.” He opened up his hands, palms up, and smiled. 

The man next to the interviewer sighed and shook his head, “Sawamura-san, what we’re trying to find out is was there a reason why you chose to commit this crime? Or was there a reason you simply got caught this time?” 

Daichi’s smile fell a little as he recalled the details. A Cheshire cat grin and rooster-like hair appeared unwelcome into his memory. A loose tongue and a desire to climb ever higher on the social ladder is what got him into jail in the first place. That bastard. 

“Well,” Daichi started, staring at the lady’s shoes to get the hyena-like laugher out of his head, “I was young, I had some money, I wanted to prove myself to the people I was hanging around.” He blinked a few times before looking back up at the two interviewers. “A bad group of people. I now realize my mistakes,” he added. 

The woman nodded slowly, but the man didn’t look too convinced. Daichi shrugged, “You know, testosterone.” He glanced at the guy before leaning back in his chair with a small smirk. 

The man seemed to understand because he stopped looking at Daichi and turned to the lady instead. In the meantime, she was putting the papers back into the manila folder,

“If released, is it likely you’ll do the same thing again?” 

“Please, I’ve grown and matured in my five years here,” Daichi chuckled drily. “I won’t do something like that just for kicks if it means more time here.” He motioned around the musty room with his hands. 

The lady folded her hands and leaned across the table, “Sawamura-san, what do you think you would do, if released?” 

Daichi bit down another one of his smiles before shrugging and sitting up, “Well, I’d have to find a job. Got to make some money.” 

And just like that, it was over. 

The woman packed up her things and thanked him before leaving. The man discussed some conditions that Daichi would have to abide by on parole. He wasn’t allowed to contact any convicted felons who were out, he couldn’t leave the city, and he was not by any means allowed to do something that would send him back to prison again. 

Daichi agreed to all those terms and conditions with a smile and two fingers crossed behind his back. 

Shortly after, he shook hands with the man and was led out of the room by the same guard who woke him in the mornings to get his stuff and then walk him out. 

He put on his suit, the same one he was arrested in, which was a nice change of clothes from the dull, black and white, smelly jumpsuit he had been wearing for the past five years. A two-piece, classic black and white, and he was allowed to step back into society and smell that sweet, sweet freedom of Tokyo’s fresh air. 

As he walked out he thought to himself, after a shave and a change into a less formal suit, he would head to the nearest casino where he knew a very old and good friend would be waiting for him. He had to talk business and find out the whereabouts of one Sugawara Koushi. His partner in crime. 

***

The casino was a lot less flashy than the ones in Las Vegas. A lot smaller in comparison as well. It made it easier for Daichi to spot a character with short brown hair and a freckled face dealing cards out to an older group of people in the corner, so he was grateful for that. 

He chuckled, shaking his head as he watched the man excitedly deal cards with a wide grin on his face. He unbuttoned his suit jacket before turning around to get some chips from one of the counters. 

After doing so, he thanked the lady and played with two chips between his fingers, keeping his eyes on the freckled card dealer. When he got the chance, the previous players leaving the table with a decent sum of money, he made his way over to the man’s table. 

He pulled out a chair, setting his chips down as the dealer got the table ready, his eyes cast downwards as Daichi watched his every move. 

“How are you today, okyakusama?” the man asked, dealing out the cards. 

“Hello, Ikejiri,” Daichi replied, not missing a beat. He looked up at the man with a sly smirk, watching as the man paled and his smile slowly started to fade. He was sweating now, his brown eyes slowly rising to see Daichi’s grinning face. 

Ikejiri licked his lips nervously, shifting his weight onto his right foot, before giving Daichi a nervous smile, “I beg your pardon, okyakusama,” he laughed nervously, glancing around. “You must have me confused with somebody else.” 

Daichi couldn’t fight his amused grin, watching as his friend tried to cover up his tracks. 

“My name is Sheishu,” he said, “As you can see on my name tag, right here.” he pointed at the tag pinned to his blue and white uniform. Sure enough, it read Sheishu. 

Daichi didn't drop his smile, only giving a small nod and wave of his hand, "It was my mistake." 

Ikejiri seemed to relax a bit, his shoulders loosening up a bit as he leaned back, letting out a sigh of relief. "It's no problem, okyakusama." He assured him with a smile. 

Daichi shrugged, pulling his chips and hands away from the tabletop. "The table's cold anyway." 

Ikejiri hesitated a bit, weighing his options in his head. Daichi could see his gears turning, the man's eyes glanced left and right, hands outstretched as if he were comparing two heavy coins. 

"Well," Ikejiri started, breaking his silence with a cough, "you might want to try the lounge upstairs." He pointed up. "It gets busy in the afternoon. Say, one o'clock?" 

Daichi stood up, straightening out his suit coat. "One o'clock?" he asked with a grin. 

Ikejiri gave a nod, finally meeting Daichi's eyes. "One o'clock."

Daichi opened and closed his fist over his coins, nodding. "Thanks, Sheishu." He gave one last grin before turning and walking away. 

"No, thank you," Ikejiri called after, shaking his head in slight disapproval. 

He wasn't sure why he offered to meet Daichi Sawamura. That man only meant trouble. 

***

At one o'clock, Daichi was sitting at the lounge's bar, glancing over a news article in the paper. 

The headline read, **"Billionaire Yasufumi Nekomata To Remodel A Casino In Las Vegas"** , with a picture of a jolly old man standing next to a bright red ribbon in front of an elegant looking casino. 

Daichi took note of the men standing next to him. A familiar face, dark eyes and bed hair, stood the closest to the man, his sly grin resembled a crescent moon. Daichi grimaced. 

On the other side of the old man were two other people. A much younger guy with black hair that was held back by what looked like a headband, a cigarette in his mouth, and a rather annoyed look on his face. To the left of the man, a timid character with thick glasses and a clipboard in his hands. 

Daichi didn't recognize them, but after reading the article he came to learn that they were the previous owners of the casino Nekomata had taken over and reformed into his own. It was previously known at the ‘Karasuno’ or ‘The Crow’ and only recently did Nekomata take it over after earning billions from his two other casinos on the strip, the Nekoma and the Toritsu. 

"Las Vegas, huh?" Daichi muttered. 

"Checking on current events?" a voice asked behind him before a person took a seat in front of him. 

Daichi put the paper down and looked up at the face of his childhood friend. "Sheishu." 

"Glad to meet you," he beamed. He leaned forward a bit, his voice a bit quieter. "Ikejiri Hayato can't get past the gaming board." He gave Daichi a look. 

Daichi chuckled and leaned back in his seats. Those were good times. 

"Did you just get out?" Ikejiri asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Daichi nodded, tracing the top of his whiskey cup with his finger. "This afternoon." 

He picked it up and examined it a bit, bringing it up to his lips before looking over at Ikejiri. "You've seen him?" he asked before taking a sip. 

Ikejiri shifted in his seat a bit, making a so-so motion with his hand. "Well, last I heard, he was in America teaching seiyuus how to play cards."

Daichi chuckled, setting his cup down. He figured Suga would be off doing some crazy thing somewhere, but in America? That worked out way too well for him. 

Ikejiri paused, watching Daichi closely. "Why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He watched as Daichi slowly started to smile and avoid eye contact. He was terrible at hiding his smirks. "You have a plan already?"

"What? Are you kidding?" Daichi scoffed, folding his arms, "I just became a citizen again." 

Ikejiri shook his head and let out a breath before leaning back in his chair. He licked his lips and looked up at Daichi in disbelief. 

"C'mon," Daichi nagged, "you don't think I sat in a cell for five years and did nothing." 

Ikejiri held up his hands in defense, "Okay, okay, I get that. You're a machine, Sawamura, you don't stop." He watched his friend closely. It had been five years since he'd last seen him and the man hadn't changed a bit. He only looked older. A few gray hair here and there, but he was still the same old Daichi. The same old conman. 

"It's a big job," Daichi said, taking another sip, "Are you going to be down?" 

Ikejiri scoffed, he rolled his eyes and pointed at himself, "Who, me?" He shook his head. "No thanks, last time was close enough to make me give up that lifestyle." 

"Last time? When I got caught?" Daichi asked, tilting his head. 

"You let Kuroo get to you," Ikejiri pointed. "Don't act like it was someone else's fault."

Daichi put down his drink, covering Kuroo's face on the newspaper, drawing Ikejiri's attention to it. "Well, if you're not going to join me, at least help me out a bit." 

Ikejiri sighed and folded his hands. "Look, if you need help, I'll send it. I know two very promising youngsters."

"I thought you gave up that lifestyle," Daichi teased with a smirk. 

Ikejiri ignored him, continuing, "I'll also tell you where Suga is. I'm surprised he didn't call you." He looked up at Daichi and smirked.

The other cleared his throat and looked away, "Well, you know how it is-"

"Yeah, yeah," Ikejiri waved his hands. "You and your relationship problems. I know." He chuckled. "You haven't called him yet?" 

Daichi shook his head, "They deleted my contacts. I couldn't be in contact with anyone I previously knew or worked with while I'm on parole." 

"Ah," Ikejiri nodded and glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching them or anything. Thankfully the only people there were a few waiters and an old couple. 

He slowly turned his attention Daichi, "Wellll...In that case, Suga's in Hollywood. But I doubt you'll be able to see him if you're on parole." 

Daichi got up at the mention of Suga's whereabouts. Of course, someone like Suga would be in a place like Hollywood. He wouldn't be surprised if the man was starring in his own film already. 

"Hollywood," Daichi repeated with a nod. He buttoned up his suit and looked to Ikejiri with an excited grin. His friend returned it with a face of shock and disbelief. 

"You're not actually-?"

"Oh yeah," Daichi nodded. "I think it's time for a little reunion."

***

"Hello? Is this Officer Kato?" Daichi asked into his phone. "Yes, I was told to call you after twenty-four hours." 

"No, I haven't been getting into trouble," he assured, shaking his head. He waited a bit, biting his lip. "No, I haven't been drinking." 

He stopped, grinning softly to himself before looking down at his newest passport, complete with a new identity and a one-way ticket to Hollywood for "job reasons". 

"No dannasama, I wouldn't dream of leaving the city."

***

It was late in the night, Suga was busy going to town on a kimchi taco he bought from a nearby fusion food truck. They were all the rage nowadays and he had the munchies, so he figured, why not? 

He had come out to get some fresh air after being in a rather muggy room under a club filled with different seiyuus who wanted to learn the art of poker. Now, Suga had an immense amount of patience, it was something he was blessed with after years of dealing with young con artists and headstrong veterans like Daichi, but he figured even he had his limits. He just needed a small break before he had to go back in there. 

“Hey, hey Suga,” a voice chirped behind him. “You ready?”

Suga put down his taco on his little paper tray and turned to look at the voice before giving a small nod. He tossed his tray into a nearby trash can and wiped his hands on the sides of his pants before following the man back into the crowded club. 

As they walked through the club, back towards the room where the rest of the players were waiting, the man tried to strike up a conversation with Suga. He asked about whether or not Suga was incorporated because the skills Suga was teaching them might be helpful in the future for gigs. 

Suga wasn’t really sure though. Half of him was present in the conversation, telling the man to just stick with cash, and the other half of him was far away. Specifically, fifty feet underground, unlocking a safe with a priceless necklace. That’s where he was, mentally at least. 

Finally, they arrived back at the table and Suga pulled out his chair. “Alright, we’re going to begin with a five-card draw,” he told them as he sat down. “You guys remember the five-card draw?” 

Despite everyone’s claims that they did indeed remember how the five-card draw worked, Suga was soon back out of that room on a mental break. He just didn’t understand how grown men didn’t know their left from their right. 

You deal left, Suga thought to himself, staring blankly at the dancers on stage with great disinterest, I told them to deal left like twenty times. 

He blinked, shaking his head and taking a long drink from the cup he picked up along the way back into the club. This was getting ridiculous. He knew he had to lay low and make money in the meantime, but there had to be a better way than teaching seiyuus how to play cards. It was a lot harder than it seems. 

After a few minutes of staring into space, thinking of different realities, glass in hand, Suga decided that he would head back one last time and at least try to get them to remember left from right. It was the least he could do. 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair before stepping back into that musty, cigar smelling room. Once he did so though, his hand dropped to his side and his eyes went wide with shock. 

“Oh, hey! We got another player,” one of them informed, pointing at the newest person at the table. 

Daichi Sawamura looked back up at Suga with an amused grin as the other blinked and scoffed in disbelief. They both gave each other a look, saying nothing, but they heard each other loud and clear. 

‘The hell did you come from?’

‘Japan.’ 

‘No shit.’ 

‘You got-?’

‘Yup.’

‘Are we going to-’

‘Yes.’ 

Suga walked over to his empty chair and plopped down, his eyes not leaving Daichi. It was so surreal to see him again, it was like seeing a ghost. It had been five years without seeing or hearing from his best friend. Part of that was probably on him, but he wasn’t the one who had got arrested in their home country because of some stupid dick-measuring contest. But that was on Daichi, not him. 

“So, Sawamura-san, what do you do?” One of the seiyuus asked, “Like, for a living? If you don’t mind me asking…”

Daichi raised an eyebrow, “Why would I mind you asking?” He pulled out two cards from his hand and placed them down, “Two cards,” he announced, looking over at Suga. 

The other smiled softly and reached out, taking the cards and pulling them towards him as Daichi continued on with his little talk, “Well, I just got out of prison.” 

That changed the atmosphere of the room rather quickly. 

The others went silent and they glanced nervously at each other. Daichi remained calm, his attention on his cards and not on anyone else. Suga, on the other hand, was holding back a smile. 

“Wait, really?” The seiyuu who had asked the question muttered, leaning forward. 

“Why were you in prison?” Asked another. Thankfully none of them looked concerned enough to pull out their phones and maybe call 911. 

“I stole things,” Daichi said simply, looking up at the cards at the people sitting around the table. 

It was quiet again, almost as if it was a relief it wasn’t something majorly bad like murder. But, curiosity got the better of one and he spoke up, “What? Like jewels? Like-”

“Ancient Japanese mempo masks,” Suga replied with almost some annoyance as he reached out for some cards. When he placed them down, he did so a little aggressively while looking at Daichi. The other continued to look at the one asking all the questions, paying Suga no mind. 

“Any money on those, uh, ancient Japanese me-” 

“-mempo masks,” Daichi finished. “There’s some,” he shrugged, tapping on his cards. 

Suga scoffed, “Don’t let him fool you.” Suga looked at Daichi as if to say, ‘Stop lying to these poor kids.’ Daichi rolled his eyes. “There’s boatloads. If you can move them.” He then turned his attention from the others to Daichi. He really wasn’t going to not scold him after he told him not to bother with Kuroo about a hundred and fifty-seven times which Daichi didn’t listen to and got himself arrested. 

“You can take one,” he said, looking to his left, knowing Daichi was looking right at him, “but you can’t.” 

“My fence seemed confident enough,” Daichi insisted, like last time, before he got arrested. 

Suga looked back at him, keeping Daichi’s amused gaze, “Dealing in cash, you don’t need a fence.” 

“Some people lack vision,” Daichi retorted. 

“Probably like the guy in Cell Block E.” Suga fired back simply. He earned a small chuckle from Daichi. 

Then the game started. Daichi bet five hundred dollars from the start, watching as Suga went into his teacher mode, going over the first rules of poker with the seiyuus and overthinking Daichi’s bet. 

After a long discussion of why Suga knew for sure that Daichi was bluffing and everyone deciding that they still were going to be in, Daichi smiled softly and put down his cards for all of them to see, “Not sure what the four nines do,” he said, “but I’m sure the ace is pretty high.” He looked up at Suga and smirked. 

There were groans from the other players. A few of them put the blame on Suga, but Suga just stared at Daichi with disbelief. A small smile crept onto his face as he realized that Daichi Sawamura was finally back, and by God did he miss him. 

***

“God I’m bored,” Suga groaned, driving down Hollywood Boulevard. 

“You look bored,” Daichi answered, his hand hanging out the window of the car as they drove by bright lights and clubbers in the streets. 

“I am bored!” Suga insisted, glancing over at Daichi who was looking at him with an entertained look. Daichi only sighed, shaking his head before turning his attention back to the road they were driving down. 

Suga fought back a smile, “So how was jail? Did you get those cookies I sent you?” 

Daichi scoffed, glancing over at Suga, “Why do you think I came to see you first?” 

Suga only hummed, tapping his hands on the wheel as they waited at a red light. The conversation stopped there, verbally, and the two close friends continued the quiet drive to a nearby open-late restaurant with a mental back and forth conversation of ‘I told you so’. 

***

“So tell me,” Suga said, sitting across from Daichi in a dimly lit lounge of sorts, scraping away at an almost empty plate of spicy curry. 

Daichi leaned forward a bit, “It’s tricky. It’s never been done before. So, it’s going to need planning and a large crew.” 

Suga blinked, setting his fork down. “Guns?” he asked.

Daichi gave a nod. “Exactly, a lot of security.” Suga tilted his head. “But the take-”

“What’s the target?” Suga interrupted, not really fond of the idea of heavy security. It was a huge pain in the ass to deal with, especially when they had guns. 

“Eight figures each,” Daichi responded. 

“What’s the target?” Suga repeated, this time with a little more emphasis behind it. 

Daichi glanced around before picking up his glass, “When’s the last time you were in Vegas?” He grinned over the brim of the cup at Suga before taking a sip. 

Suga blinked. “You want to knock over a casino?” 

Daichi set the cup down with a smile before holding three fingers up in response. 

This earned a double take from Suga. He blinked a few more times, staring at Daichi’s hand before shaking his head and leaning back. He chuckled a bit, licking his lips in anticipation. Oh yeah, he really missed this. 

***

Daichi turned on the light over a blueprint layout of a building. “The vault at The Nekoma,” he explained, leaning back on the desk with his arms folded. 

“Hm,” Suga answered, leaning down to observe it. He squinted, reading the security measures, “Oof,” he muttered. He straightened himself back up and looked at Daichi, pointing at the blueprint, “If I’m reading this right,” he held out his hands, “and I like to think that I am-”

Daichi scoffed. 

“-this is probably the least accessible vault ever designed.”

“Yup,” Daichi nodded, popping the ‘p’. He unfolded his arms and walked over to Suga, standing next to him over the blueprint laid out on the office table. 

“You said three casinos?” Suga asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over the vault again. 

Daichi leaned down, resting his elbows on the desk as he pointed with his fingers. “These feed into the cages of the former Karasuno, the Toritsu,” he explained, “but every diamond ends up there.” He tapped the part of the vault labeled “Nekoma”. 

“The Nekoma and the Toritsu…” Suga muttered. He looked at Daichi. “These are Yasufumi Nekomata’s places.” 

Daichi wasn’t looking at him. “Yes they are,” he answered with a nod. 

Suga sighed and looked away. 

“What?” Daichi asked, looking up at Suga. “You think he’ll mind?”

“You’d need at least a dozen guys doing a combination of cons,” Suga replied, rubbing his temples. Of course, Daichi couldn’t do just one casino, he had to do three. Typical. 

“Well, what do you think?” Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Suga dropped his hands from his temples and shrugged, “Off the top of my head? I’d say you’re looking at a Bosky, a Jim Brown, um, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks.” 

Daichi looked down, nodding as he sniffed. 

“Not to mention,” Suga continued, “the biggest Ella Fritzgerald ever.” He watched Daichi closely. “You think you can get the money to back this?” He knew for a fact that the recently released from prison Daichi wouldn’t have more than maybe a few hundred (stolen) dollars. 

Daichi shrugged, folding his arms. “Well, we’re hitting these three casinos, we’ll get our bankroll.” He smiled, “Nekomata’s got a long list of enemies.” 

Suga gave a short nod. “Yeah, but enemies with loose cash and nothing to lose.” 

Daichi raised an eyebrow. Suga stopped. 

“Ah,” he nodded. “Ukai.” 

“Ukai.” Daichi confirmed with a smirk. 

Suga opened his mouth to say something when he was suddenly blinded by a light. He closed his eyes before raising a hand up to shield himself from the bright light coming from a flashlight and a guy who said, “Hey.” 

Daichi turned, raising a hand to block out the light with a groan, “Jeez, Yasumichi, lower it a bit, would you?”

The chubby middle-aged man in a nightguard suit lowered the flashlight, looking slightly annoyed by the two men in the office building, “Sorry,” he said, clicking the light off. “You boys done up here? Find what you want?” 

“We’re just going to take these home for the night,” Daichi said, holding the rolled vault blueprint plans up as Suga gathered his suit jacket behind him, “and make some copies if that’s alright.”

The older man just walked away, “Whatever you need.” 

Daichi smiled, watching him, “Appreciate it…” He looked back at Suga and nodded before the two of them left together towards the elevator. 

As they waited, Daichi seemed to get a bit annoyed. Suga wasn’t talking to him, nor was he letting him into his thoughts. He was just staring at the elevator door, swaying back and forth as he nervously stroked his chin. 

“What?” Daichi asked, feeling only slightly hurt. Five years and he came all the way to Hollywood to see Suga to invite him in on this grand plan he’s been working on since he got out. Suga made it very clear that he was bored living a slightly less criminal and illegal life, so why did he not seem into the idea? 

Suga didn’t answer at first, but finally, he put down his hand and looked at Daichi, “I need a reason.” 

Daichi scoffed in disbelief and looked away, “Wha-?”

“And don’t say money,” Suga added quickly with the shake of his head, arms now folded as he leaned against the middle wall between the two elevators. Daichi hated whenever Suga used that ‘mom’ look and ‘voice’ with him. Why was he getting scolded? What did he do wrong?

“Why do this?” Suga asked, with a slight tilt of his head. Daichi tuned him out of his thoughts. 

“Why not do this?” Daichi retorted with a sly smirk.

Suga shook his head in disapproval but his eyes and smile twitched with amusement. He would get his way. He always did when it came to Daichi, except the time where Daichi got arrested. That was the first, and Suga hoped, last time. 

Suga pressed on, staring at Daichi intently. The other held his gaze for only a few seconds before looking away and getting a small fit of restless shivers before he turned back to Suga. 

“Because yesterday I walked out of jail after losing five years of my life, and you’re cold decking team beat cover seiyuus.” 

Suga paused, shaking his head and muttering something about Daichi being in jail was not his fault, but Daichi’s. Daichi pretended he didn’t hear that, stepping forward, 

“Because the house always wins.” He paused. “Play long enough, you never change the stakes, the house takes you. Unless,” he stepped closer, “when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big. And then you take the house.” 

Daichi looked back at Suga expectedly. The other only gave a small nod before casting his gaze downwards, taking in Daichi’s words before looking up and grinning, 

“You’ve been practicing that speech, haven’t you?”

“A little bit,” Daichi admitted with a quick nod, “Did I rush it?” he asked with a frown. “I felt like I rushed it.” 

“No, no,” Suga replied with a snort. “It was good. I liked it.” he paused before muttering, "The seiyuu part was a little harsh though." 

Daichi laughed. 

The elevator dinged and the two men turned their attentions away from each other to walk into the small compartment, turning around to face the closing door after Suga leaned over to push the button to the basement floor of the office building. 

Daichi tapped the rolled-up blueprints into his other hand, watching the elevator door close as Suga leaned back, brushing his shoulder up against Daichi’s. Daichi knew better than to say, ‘I know you missed me.’ so he said something else instead. 

“I already set up a meeting with Ukai. Talked with his assistant, Takeda,” he said, watching as the numbers got lower and lower on the screen as they descended. 

Suga hummed, “Wonder what he’ll say…”


	2. Recruitment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Daichi and Suga have plans to rob the casinos, they're going to need a team to pull it off. Enter the rest of Karasuno.

“You’re out of your goddamn minds!” 

After having taken a four-hour road trip to meet with Ukai - which was filled with lots of snack stops and arguing whether or not Daichi knew the way (he didn’t) - Suga and Daichi were sitting in front of the grandson of the infamous conman, Ikkei Ukai, at one of his Las Vegas homes eating fish and chips. 

Takeda, the man who set up the meeting, was sitting next to Ukai, looking rather nervous about the whole thing.

Daichi had gotten in contact with the man before boarding his plane to California, asking if there was any way he could meet with Ukai to talk about a few things. It wasn’t until Daichi mentioned Ikkei and his profession that Takeda agreed to have them meet. 

Ukai sat in front of them with his arms crossed, a stern look on his face as a cigarette hung from his lips. He was wearing a bright orange bathrobe and his long, black hair was pushed back in a headband which basically screamed that he was now some retired older man with lots of cash to blow. 

“Are you listening to me?” Ukai asked, looking between the both of them. 

Suga and Daichi glanced at each other through their sunglasses, turning their heads just slightly. Daichi sighed, unbuttoning his grey suit’s jacket as he leaned back in his chair a bit. Suga wiped his hand on a napkin, still chewing the remaining fries in his mouth, thinking. 

Ukai continued, “The both of you are nuts.” He pointed his fork at the two, which made Takeda all the more nervous. 

A small smile twitched at the ends of Daichi’s lips. Suga rolled his eyes.

“I know more about casino security than any man alive!” He said before pointing at Takeda, “He invented it!” 

Takeda chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. 

“And it cannot be beaten.” He set down his fork and lit the cigarette, taking a drag before continuing, “They’ve got cameras, they’ve got locks, they’ve got timers, they’ve got vaults!” He eyed the two younger men in front of him with slight interest and admiration, but he still looked rather stern. 

“They’ve got enough armed personnel to occupy all of Paris!” He threw his hands up. 

Takeda narrowed his eyes just slightly at Ukai and Daichi could’ve guessed that he also squeezed or pinched Ukai in some way under the table because Ukai suddenly jumped and glared a bit at Takeda with the tips of his ears burning red. That and Suga did that whenever Daichi got carried away with making bets at the gambling table. 

He glanced over at Suga to see that other grinning back at him, thinking the same exact thing. 

“Okay, bad example,” Ukai muttered, shaking his head. Takeda smiled softly. 

Daichi slowly turned back to Ukai, “It’s never been tried.” 

Ukai laughed, “Oh no,” he shook his head, “it’s been tried. A few guys even came close.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it between his index and middle finger. “You know the three most successful robberies in the history of Vegas?”

Suga and Daichi looked at each other before looking back at Ukai. The other scoffed, rolling his eyes slightly as he continued on, 

“Number Three: The Bronze Medal. A pencil-neck grabs a lockbox at the Horseshoe.” He gave them a sly grin, “He got two steps closer to the exit than any living soul before him.” 

Daichi opened his mouth to say something, but Ukai carried on, 

“The second most successful robbery, the Flamingo in 71,” he shook his head and chuckled, “this guy actually tasted fresh air before they grabbed him!” He paused and shrugged, “Of course, he was breathing out of a hose for the next three weeks.” He put the cigarette to his lips and took a hit, muttering, “Goddamn hippie…”

“And the closest any man has come to robbing a Las Vegas casino,” he continued, “was outside of Caesars in ‘87.” Ukai got serious, “He came. He grabbed. He ran. And they conquered. Shot him dead.” 

Daichi cleared his throat, Suga took his foot off of Daichi’s chair and let out a low whistle before grinning softly. 

“Eh, but what am I saying?” Ukai waved his hand in the air, “Takeda tells me you’re professionals. The best” He then muttered something about his shitty old grandpa, but Daichi and Suga didn’t catch it. Takeda only glared. 

“I’m sure you can make it out of the casino,” He sounded rather genuine about that statement too. But that didn’t last too long. 

“Of course, unless, we forget, once you’re out the front door,” he started, getting a bit tense, “you’re still in the middle of the fuckin’ desert!” 

Suga hummed, “You’re right.” He turned to Daichi who was watching Ukai put out his cigarette with his usual sly and entertained smile, “He’s right.” 

Daichi nodded, “Ukai, you’re right.” He looked back at Suga for a second before looking back at the two older men in front of them. “Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.” 

Suga turned his gaze away from Daichi back to Ukai, “That’s exactly what it is,” he nodded, “Pure ego.” 

Ukai sighed, “Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah,” he waved his hand in the air at the two. 

“Thank you,” Daichi nodded, standing up, “for lunch.” 

Suga followed, grabbing a few more fries before saying, “It was delicious,” and then stuffing his face with the fries. 

Takeda stood up as well, shaking Suga’s hand as Daichi shook Ukai’s before the two switched. The former casino owner sighed, “Look, apparently, my grandfather knows you two and respects you both, he told me about the thing with the guy and the place, and he’ll never forget it.” 

“That was our pleasure,” Daichi answered with a smile. 

“I’ve never been to Belize,” Suga answered with a shrug, looking at the two of them with a grin. 

He and Daichi then turned, walking together back to the car when Ukai called after them, “Give Takeda your addresses, I can send over some things to your places to make up for it instead.” 

Suga waved his hand behind him, telling Ukai and Takeda that it was okay and that they’d be fine without it. Takeda stopped walking towards them and opened his mouth to object when Ukai’s curiosity got the better of him. 

“Just out of curiosity,” the other man said, slowly standing up, “what three casinos did you geniuses pick to rob?”

Daichi and Suga stopped in their tracks, slowly turning around to meet Ukai again. 

“It’s the, uh, Nekoma the-” Suga started with a mutter, trying to remember them. Daichi continued for him, louder so that Ukai could actually hear. 

“It’s the Nekoma, the Toritsu and the former Karasuno.

There was a heavy pause. 

Ukai and Takeda looked at each other in disbelief before looking back at the other two. They smirked back and turned around again and started walking. 

“Those are Nekomata Yasufumi’s casinos.” Ukai realized. 

The two stopped again and Suga looked at Daichi, “Is that right?” he asked innocently. 

Daichi nodded, “That’s right.”

Ukai slowly walked over to them with Takeda, who looked just as confused and shocked as the other, “You guys,” he reached the two, “what do you two have against Nekomata Yasufumi?” 

“What do you have against him?” Daichi asked, “That’s the question.”

Ukai looked between the two of them, finally looking stern because of someone else and not their ambitious selves. He bit his lip and looked at Takeda, who looked surprisingly angry at the mention of Nekomata, before turning back to the two. 

He took a breath, “He torpedoed my casino.” 

“Ours,” Takeda corrected. 

Ukai nodded in agreement, “Our casino.” Takeda smiled in satisfaction. “He pushed us out and now he’s going to totally reconstruct it next year to make way for another tacky Japanese style monstrosity!” 

He pointed at Daichi, “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing.” 

Daichi raised an eyebrow, “What are we doing?”   


“You’re going to steal from Nekomata Yasufumi, you better goddamn know.” He said, now talking carefully and slowly, “This sort of thing used to be civilized, you’d hit a guy, he’d wack you - done!” He clapped his hands together. 

“But with Nekomata?” He paused, “By the end of this, he better not know you’re involved, not know your names, or think you’re dead because he’ll kill ya.” He looked at them, “And then he’ll go to work on ya.” 

Daichi stepped close to Ukai and gave a small nod, “That’s why we need to be very careful.” Another nod, “Very precise.” 

Suga hummed and took a step forward, “Yeah, and well funded.” 

“Yeah,” Ukai muttered, “You’ve gotta be nuts too.” 

Takeda smiled slowly, watching Ukai’s expression grow with interest.

“And you’re going to need a crew as nuts as you are.” 

Daichi and Suga looked at each other with matching grins before turning back to Ukai. 

“Who have you got in mind?” 

***

Suga was sprawled out over a couch in the hotel room that he had booked for him and Daichi, arms on the armrests as he tilted his head back with his eyes closed, “So, who’s in?” 

Daichi glanced over at the files that Kiyoko, an old friend of Suga and his, a former detective turned con-woman, had brought over. Ever since she joined the game, she kept tabs on every possible friend that could help them with their jobs. She recently flew into Las Vegas on a “business meeting” to give Daichi everyone’s known whereabouts so he and Suga would have some people to get into contact with. 

“Well,” Daichi started, leaning down to pick up one of the files from the coffee table, “I talked to Ikejiri before I left. He’s not in, but he’s sending in two youngsters to take his place.” He looked up at Suga, “Should be interesting.” 

Suga only mumbled something in response and Daichi chuckled, shaking his head. 

‘ _ Don’t worry, I trust Ikejiri to get us good, decent people. _ ’

‘ _ People can’t be good and decent if they’re stealing something that isn’t theirs. _ ’ 

Suga looked up at Daichi and grinned, eyes sparkling with that usual glee whenever he was being a smartass. 

“What are their names?” Suga asked, crumpling his bag of chips and tossing it aside.

Daichi tapped his forehead, eyes shut, as he tried to remember what the two names Ikejiri gave him. “Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi,” He finally answered, opening his eyes. 

“Two?” Suga raised an eyebrow. 

Daichi shrugged, “Said that they were a package deal. Couldn’t have one without the other.” 

“Huh,” Suga muttered. He then looked at Daichi and smiled, “Like us.” He got a small smile in return. 

“What about drivers?” Daichi then asked, setting the file down as Suga sat up and leaned forward, reaching out for the bowl of chile salted peanuts in front of him. 

“I talked to Tanaka and Nishinoya the other day,” He said, cracking a few open. 

“That chaotic duo?” Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a seat on the couch. 

Suga nodded, popping the nuts into his mouth, “Mmh, they’re both in Tampa, six months off the job.” He chuckled, smiling as he thought about the duo, “I’ve got the sense that they’re having trouble trying to fill the hours.”

***

Another sunny day in Tampa, Florida, meaning it was quite overcast and quite humid, but Tanaka and Nishinoya couldn’t care less. They had just got done wrangling some alligators, for fun and for some cash, and decided that they’d spend the last couple of hours before their flight to Vegas racing at an abandoned speedway. 

Tanaka pulled up in his truck, a bright red one with flames, while Nishinoya pulled up his nearly identical remote control car, against it. 

Tanaka looked at him expectantly while Nishinoya pulled out the antenna on the remote slowly, as if to tease the other who had a rather short patience span. 

“Waiting, Noya,” He said, looking around, “just waiting.”

“Yeah?” Nishinoya grinned, “Good.” 

“Waiting for you.” 

“What do you want?” Nishinoya asked, putting a hand to his ear to pretend he didn’t hear what Tanaka had said. 

“Go, little kid!” Tanaka said, “You’re like a little kid!” He teased, taking a jab on Nishinoya’s unfortunate height. 

“Hey!” Nishinoya snapped, glaring up at Tanaka who grinned. “You wanna go?” He asked, trying to look as threatening as possible.

Tanaka rolled his eyes, “I’m going to get out of the car and drop you like third-period math, okay?” 

“Okay, just relax!” Nishinoya chided. 

“Go!” Tanka shouted, losing his patience. 

Nishinoya grinned and pressed the button, his remote car taking off before Tanaka even had the chance to step on the gas. 

The other watched as Tanaka took off, tires screeching, as he tried to catch up with Nishinoya’s model car. He even succeeded in doing so before Nishinoya pulled ahead with a gleeful laugh. 

However, that was cut short, because the moment Tanaka lined up with Nishinoya’s car, he suddenly turned left and completely crushed the toy with his large truck wheels. 

“Ahahaha!” Tanaka laughed as he drove on, occasionally glancing back at his ‘brother-from-another-mother’ to see his reaction. 

Nishinoya frowned in defeat, putting the antenna back into the remote with a huff. 

He was so glad Suga called them for a job. 

***

“Hm, electronics?” Daichi asked, putting Nishinoya and Tanaka’s files to the side. 

Suga reached for another handful of peanuts, “Narita and Kinoshita,” he cracked a few and tossed them into his mouth. “The two are in Los Angeles doing freelance surveillance work for the FBI mob squad.” 

Daichi whistled, that was pretty impressive. “How are their nerves?” he asked, remembering that the two once backed out in the middle of a job because it got too hard for them to handle. 

Suga shrugged, munching away on the peanuts, “They’re okay. Not so bad you notice.” 

***

A few blocks away from the beach, Narita and Kinoshita sat in a disguised vehicle with two others from the FBI. They were monitoring some individuals who were passing along information, making sure that they weren’t a threat. 

“Don’t,” Narita stuttered, “Don’t touch that.” He told one of the men who was reaching out for a dial. 

The guy blinked, “Why not?”   
  
Narita looked at Kinoshita for help. 

“Do you see him grabbing the gun out of your holster and, just, waving it around?” Kinoshita asked, waving his hand around in a gun shape to illustrate his point further. 

“Hey, you two,” the other agent spoke up, “relax.” 

Kinoshita dropped his hand and mumbled something while Narita just stared at them in disbelief before shaking his head and turning back to the monitor. 

Kinoshita’s phone suddenly started to ring, making the four of them jump. He pulled it out to see the contact and grinned before looking at Narita who was raising an eyebrow at his partner’s sudden grin. 

The other showed him the contact name before stepping outside quickly to take the call, the other two agents almost looked relieved while Narita just stared in shock, the formations of a smile twitching on his lips. 

“It’s been a while,” Kinoshita said into the phone, “We’re in.”

***

“Isn’t Ennoshita in town?” Daichi asked as the two of them sat across the table during dinner. He couldn’t understand why, after all those peanuts, Suga was able to eat even more. And this time, it was spicy tofu soup from one of those supposedly ‘Asain’ themed restaurants on the strip. 

Suga licked his lips, setting down his spoon, “There might be an issue in availability…”

Daichi raised an eyebrow, ‘ _ What do you mean? _ ’

“Kiyoko said Ennoshita was doing some jobs here and there,” Suga explained, “but the people he’s working with aren’t the best of the best.” He smiled and motioned to the both of them. 

“Think he’s going to-”

“Yup. Tomorrow.” 

“Are you going to-”

“Of course, you coming with?”

Daichi sighed and shrugged, “Guess so.” 

Suga grinned and picked his spoon back up again. 

***

This was supposed to be a quick and easy job for Ennoshita, he was going to get in and get out ten times richer than before. But, he was working with amateurs, complete and utter amateurs who didn’t even realize that turning off the security system would’ve been a really good idea. 

So instead of walking out with riches, he was walking out in handcuffs and towards a police car. 

Once there, the police that had apprehended him started to ask him questions, “That’s all you used in the event, right? Nothing else?”

Ennoshita blinked in disbelief, “Hang on, are you accusing me of booby-trapping?” 

“Well, how about it?” The policeman asked. 

“Boobytraps aren’t Mr. Ennoshita’s style,” a man said, approaching the two, “Isn’t that right? Chikara?”

Ennoshita turned to see the familiar face of Sugawara Koushi and he tried very hard to suppress his grateful smile at the sight of an old friend. 

“Irino, ATF” Suga held up a fake badge for the police to see, quickly and confidently enough that the man didn’t suspect a thing, “Let me venture a guess,” he stepped forward, “simple G four mainliner? Backwound quick fuse? With a drag under twenty feet?” All just some talk to confuse the cop and make it seem like Suga knew what he was talking about. 

“Well, let me ask you something else,” Suga looked at the cop, “Did you search this no-good doer for boobytraps on his person?” 

The cop opened and closed his mouth like a koi fish. 

“And I mean really search him, not just for weapons,” Suga said, waving a hand in the air. When the cop just let go of Ennoshita’s arm, Suga nodded, “Alright, stand back.” He grabbed Ennoshita and turned him around to face the police car, holding him against it. 

“Oh great, here we go,” Ennoshita groaned, hitting the car. 

“Go find Aaron, tell him I need to see him,” Suga said to the cop. 

The man blinked, “Who?”

Suga glared, “Just find him okay?”

At Suga’s raised voice, the cop’s eyes widened and he nodded, scampering away to find someone who most likely didn’t exist. 

Once he was gone, Suga leaned down to Ennoshita, pulling something out of his coat pocket and placing it in Ennoshita’s hands that were tied behind his back. 

“Hey, Chikara.” Suga greeted, sounding a lot sweeter than before. 

“Hey, Suga,” Ennoshita responded, finally able to smile. 

“How fast can you put something together of what I just slipped you?” Suga asked, pulling himself up. 

Ennoshita went quiet for a few seconds, his hands moving behind his back before he glanced back at Suga. “It’s done,” he confirmed and handed it back to him. 

Suga nodded, tossing it away from them and taking Ennoshita by the arm as the two started to slowly walk away from the scene. 

“Is Daichi here?” Ennoshita asked, knowing that it was around the time Daichi would’ve gotten out of prison and that Suga rarely did jobs that didn’t include his best friend. 

“Yeah,” Suga nodded, “He’s right around the corner.” 

“That’s great,” Ennoshita grinned, “it’ll be nice to work with actual pros again.” 

Suga glanced back as the device Ennoshita whipped up started to smoke, alarming the cops as they shouted to get down while the device exploded violently. 

Ennoshita and Suga took off in a light jog towards Daichi, the both of them laughing with glee. 

“Oh man, they did not see that coming!” Suga chuckled.

***

“Greaseman?” Daichi asked, sipping on a martini as the two of them relaxed at the hotel’s pool. They had let Ennoshita go and pick up their electronics men since the three of them were really close friends. They had half their team so far, but there were still some important roles that were missing. 

Suga sighed loudly, a sign of telling Daichi he would rather tan than talk about the heist. 

“Fine,” Daichi scoffed, setting down his drink, “What about-”

“Nope.” Suga answered, shaking his head, “He’s in jail.” 

Daichi frowned, “Oh.” 

It was quiet for a moment between the two of them before Daichi turned in his chair to look at Suga, “How about-”

Suga yawned, “Not interested. He landed a big sum of money while you were in jail and decided to just retire.” 

Daichi’s expression dropped, “Oh, well good for him,” he muttered. He hated the thought of retirement. To sit there and do nothing for the rest of your life, it was crazy. 

"So, we've got no one?" Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow along with his sunglasses. 

Suga sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the chair, "There might be someone."

"Who?" Daichi wondered, watching as Suga got up and stretched. 

Daichi then groaned and put his sunglasses on to shield his eyes from the horribly bright pink swim shorts Suga was wearing which were now at eye level once Suga stood up. 

"His name is Kageyama," Suga said, "King of the Greasemen. His skills are unparalleled and most of it is just talent." 

"So where is he?" Daichi asked, sitting up with interest. 

"San Diego. Doin' circus performances." Suga shrugged, a mischievous look in his eyes. 

"So does that mean-"

"Roadtrip?" Suga tilted his head innocently, "Yessiree!" 

***

It wasn't ideal, driving four hours back to almost near where Daichi picked up Suga and then back, but if Kageyama was as good as Suga made him out to be, then it should be worth it. 

Another four hours of Suga's endless snack stops to get spicy chips and even spicier gum. And another four hours of Daichi  _ insisting  _ that he knew the way to San Diego despite not being in the West Coast of the U.S.A for nearly seven years. 

Magically, and thankfully, the two arrived in time to see Kageyama's performance at a Barnum's circus in San Diego.

As Suga sipped away at a drink from the concession stand, Daichi watched the performers, trying to pick out who might be Kageyama. 

"So, which one's the King of Greasemen?" Daichi asked, turning his head just slightly, enough to see Suga out of the corner of his eye. 

Suga put down his drink, “The skinny Japanese guy.” 

Daichi blinked slowly before he turned his head completely to look at Suga with a ‘really?’ face, as all the performers were skinny and Japanese. Suga paid him no attention, his eyes glued onto the performance. 

Daichi sighed and shook his head slightly before leaning back against Suga’s shoulder. “Well, then, who else is on the list?” 

“He is the list,” Suga answered, not minding Daichi at all. They kind of threw the idea of personal space out a window several years ago, so it wasn’t uncommon to see the two get a little touchy. 

_ ‘Don’t look at me like that, we only need one _ .’ 

_ ‘Well, the kid better be good _ .’ 

_ ‘He is, just watch the performance _ .’ 

Daichi turned his attention back to the group of Japanese guys performing their impressive gymnastic skills on poles, chairs, and hoops.

He watched as one of them, a young man with dark hair, climbed up one of the poles with little trouble. From where Daichi was, the task looked rather simple. 

He raised a hand, motioning to the guy, “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem all that diffi-”

The man did a backflip off the pole and caught himself on the other with just his legs before launching off into a front flip and landing on his feet. He even did a few more jumps and flips to prove to the crowd that he was the best. 

Daichi blinked, impressed as everyone clapped around him. “Alright,” he muttered with a nod, “We’ve got a grease man.” 

Suga grinned in delight. “We’ve got a grease man!” He repeated with a nod, clapping alongside the rest of the audience. 

After chatting with Kageyama after the show, Daichi and Suga headed back to their car. It took a little convincing on Suga’s end to get Kageyama on board, but after he heard that the money might allow him to not work in a circus anymore, he was on board. He told them that they only had a few more shows and he’d be on his way to Las Vegas as soon as he was done. So, really, it wasn’t that hard.

“We’re going to need Asahi,” Daichi said as they walked to the car. 

“He won’t do it,” Suga replied with slight annoyance, tossing his souvenirs into the backseats of the car, “He got out of the game a year after you were arrested.”

Daichi opened the passenger’s seat and sat down, closing the door behind him, “What? Did he get religion?” A little joke since they always thought their friend looked like the Messiah himself. 

“Anxiety,” Suga responded simply, sitting down in the driver’s seat since Daichi didn’t know the way back (though he would claim that he did).

Daichi tapped on the dashboard before putting on his seatbelt. “Well, you could ask him.” He looked over at Suga. 

The other shrugged, turning on the engine, “Hey, I could ask him.”

***

Thanks to Kiyoko, Asahi wasn’t very hard to find. The former con man was laying low in Arizona, only a few hours away from Vegas. It was far away enough for Daichi to back out of yet another road trip with Suga because he insisted that Asahi needed convincing from Suga and only Suga. 

He didn’t mind though, figuring it would be better if Daichi rested up at the hotel while he was out for a few days. Having a grumpy, stressed Daichi as a partner wasn’t all that great. There’s always a lot of yelling and stubbornness that goes on whenever he gets into one of his “moods”.

So, that’s how Suga ended up being alone and watching as a familiar bun walked through a crowd of betters at a stadium that held greyhound racing. It was a rather odd place to find Asahi, but it worked for Suga. 

He watched Asahi place his bets before walking over to a bench out in the sun. Suga smiled softly to himself, tossing his wrappers into the trash before slowly walking over to Asahi. 

He placed his hands on the back of the bench, leaning over and watching Asahi peel an orange. Before Suga got to even say anything, Asahi started talking, 

“I saw you at the paddock,” he said, not even looking back at Suga, “for the second race, outside in the men's room when I placed my bet.” 

Suga shrugged and gave a nod, he tended to stand out every now and then. But in his profession, he had to choose when and where to stand out and this time around, he wanted to make sure Asahi saw him. 

Asahi sighed, “I saw you before you even got up in the morning.” The poor guy knew it was around the time that Daichi got out of jail, so he knew that Suga and Daichi would be coming for his ass sooner or later. He didn’t think so soon though. 

“How have you been Asahi?” Suga asked with a grin. 

“Never been better,” Asahi said half-heartedly, his focus still on the orange. 

Suga raised an eyebrow. “What’s with the orange?” he asked. 

“My therapist says I should try and eat healthier foods every now and then,” Asahi explained, finally peeling the last bit of the orange off. 

“Eating healthy helps with anxiety?” Suga questioned. 

Asahi turned around to look at his friend who smiled back, “Did you come to give me some sort of physical?”

Suga laughed and gently, very gently, punched Asahi in the shoulder, “Box seats, c’mon.” He showed him two upgraded tickets and motioned him to follow as he walked away.

Asahi sighed and shook his head, muttering something about getting new friends. 

The seats Suga got were nice though, shaded, roomy, and you could see the whole track from there. Of course, it would’ve been nicer if Suga wasn’t there with an offer for Asahi. Don’t get him wrong, he liked seeing his friends, but he wished that they were normal friends for once. 

They sat together, watching as the handlers walked the greyhounds to the starting box, Suga busy eating an ice-cream, which Asahi wasn’t sure if it was to tease him or because it was hot (Suga was teasing him), and Asahi was peeling apart the orange sadly. 

“So are you going to tell me about the job?” He asked, glancing over at Suga, “Or should I just say no and get this over with?”

“You’re the best there is, Asahi,” Suga said before taking a bite of his ice-cream like a mad-man. “I do like to tease you, but I really do mean that you’re the best.” He looked over at him and smiled, ice cream on his upper lip. 

“You’re the ace of the deck,” Suga chuckled, licking the ice-cream off. “What do you want?” He asked, taking another bite. 

“Nothing,” Asahi responded simply before taking a few bites of his orange. 

Suga paused, looking at Asahi in slight shock as if he didn’t believe that Asahi had really given up the game. 

Asahi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “I’ve got a nice house, wall-to-wall, and a couple of goldfish.” 

Goldfish? Suga thought in surprise. 

“I’m doing community work, I’ve changed.” Asahi said with a small sigh.

A horn went off and the greyhounds took off, momentarily taking both of their attention off the conversation and onto the track. As the dogs ran, everyone around them cheered, egging on whatever dog they bet on in order to earn only a fourth of what Suga would get from a small, single job. 

“Guys like us don’t change, Asahi,” Suga said, his eyes following the dogs as they ran around the track, “we just get sharper or we get sloppy.” He looked over at Asahi in his cargo shorts and an unbuttoned tropical shirt over a plain t-shirt. Definitely just a bit sloppy, he thought as he wiped some ice-cream off his two-piece blue-grey suit. 

“Quit conning me,” Asahi muttered with a frown, watching the dogs with great interest. 

Suga watched the track before leaning towards Asahi. “Is that your dog way in the rear there?” He asked with a teasing grin. 

Asahi waved his hand at Suga, “He breaks late, everybody knows this.” 

Suga gave a chuckle and leaned back in his seat. It was nice to see Asahi again, see that he was doing alright and living his life. But he really did need Asahi, Daichi needed him, they all kinda did. He was the one who really brought the team together. 

He heard Asahi sigh beside him, “So, are you going to treat me like an old friend?” He asked, “And tell me about the scam you and Daichi are planning?” 

Suga grinned widely. Knowing Asahi, he knew he would eventually come around. Even if he didn’t sound too excited or onboard yet, Suga knew what, or who would be able to fully convince Asahi to come back. 

He leaned over, whispering the whole plan into Asahi’s ear. The three casinos, the team, the target, and payroll, everything he could fit in two minutes before he pulled away and smiled innocently at Asahi. 

His friend looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth as the dogs crossed the finish line, Asahi’s in last place. 

Suga dropped a plane ticket to Las Vegas down in Asahi’s lap, making the poor man jump, before getting up and smiling down at him. He flicked Asahi’s bun and chuckled before saluting and walked away with his empty ice cream cone. 

Asahi looked at the ticket and turned to call after Suga that the job was crazy, his mouth opening and closing in shock, but Suga was already gone. 

Turning slowly in his chair, Asahi looked at the ticket, then the track, and then his losing bet. He sighed, shook his head, and tore up his bet. 

He guessed he was flying out to Vegas. He’d better find someone to feed his goldfish.

***

Daichi and Suga sat at a bar, watching a TV that was promoting a volleyball match that was going to happen on the day of the heist. Apparently it was some big deal, two foreign teams were going against each other and because it was Vegas, people were placing bets like crazy.

Suga had just gotten back from recruiting Asahi the other day, happy to come back to a not so grumpy Daichi. Apparently, Daichi spent a lot of time sleeping and planning whenever he could, but he mostly rested. While Suga, on the other hand, was rather tired from the many different road trips and would have preferred to be in bed instead of a bar earlier in the morning. 

“So, that’s eleven,” Daichi said, eyes glued on the TV, after counting a mental list of everyone that they had so far. 

Suga didn’t respond, his head resting in his hands as he laid against the bartop counter. He stared unblinking at the TV screen, nose nuzzled into his arm. 

“Do you think we need one more?” Daichi asked Suga, still not looking at him. 

Suga didn’t answer. 

“You think we need one more,” Daichi nodded. 

Suga remained quiet. 

“Okay,” Daichi sighed, “we’ll get one more.” 

Suga blinked. 

***

Since Suga was the one to pick up Asahi, Daichi would be the one to pick up their newest member. There was hardly an argument about it too. Suga just plopped onto the bed and gave Daichi a look before the other could suggest a call instead of an in-person invitation. 

So, that’s how Daichi ended up on a subway train in Illinois, watching a red-headed kid effortlessly pick-pocket the man he was standing next to. Daichi smiled when the kid used the lurching of the train to slip his hand into the man’s shirt, pulling out a wallet with zero trouble or alarm. 

Daichi chuckled softly, being the only one in that subway compartment who saw what had happened. 

The kid got off at the next stop and Daichi followed suit. He passed by the kid, switching out the wallet for his own business card as he “accidentally” bumped into him. Then from there, he headed to a nearby restaurant where he would wait for the kid to meet him.

The red-haired kid continued to walk before he reached a safe point under a tunnel. He stopped and reached into his pocket to pull out what he thought would be another guy’s wallet, but ended up with a business card instead. 

“Oh, what?” He groaned, looking it over. 

_‘Nice pull!_ _Meet me at Sakanoshita's'_

_ -Daichi Sawamura  _

With no other choice, scared that this man would rat him out or something, Hinata hurried over to Sakanoshita's as quickly as possible. 

He entered, slightly out of breath, and saw a few people eating, but one man looking right at him with a mischievous grin. His hair was short, dark brown, with streaks of gray, and his eyes a similar color, but they were intimidating and calculating and made Hinata tense. His smile, however, twitched upright, amused at the sight of Hinata as he approached. He could only assume that this was Daichi Sawamura. 

“Hello Hinata,” the man greeted. Hearing his name made Hinata freeze in his tracks in front of the guy. "Whose is this?" the man then asked, holding up the wallet Hinata stole with a grin. 

Hinata looked at the wallet he placed down nervously before looking back up at the man, “W-who are you?” He asked, nervously gripping onto his backpack straps. 

“A friend of Bokuto Koutarou,” He answered. 

Hinata blinked rapidly at the mention of his mentor slash father-figure. How did this man know him? He’d been training with Bokuto for years and not once did he ever see this man nor did Bokuto bring him up. 

Hinata opened his mouth to say something when the man put something else on the table. Hinata’s eyes followed, mouth still opened, to spot what looked like a plane ticket and a passport. 

“You’re either in or you’re out,” Daichi said, tapping the passport, “Right now.”

Hinata looked down at the items in shock before looking up at Daichi and shaking his head in disbelief. He glanced around before sighing and plopping on down in the chair in front of Daichi. 

“So, what is it?” He asked, leaning forward. Now genuinely curious. He had waited for someone to approach him for a job, after all these years of training he wanted to show off and prove that he could do things without the help of Bokuto, or Akaashi for that matter. 

“It’s a plane ticket,” he explained, “a job offer.”

Hinata perked up. 

He licked his lips in anticipation before looking at Daichi. He opened his mouth to say something before stopping and raising an eyebrow. He racked his brain for what Bokuto taught him, because he still wasn’t too sure he could trust the guy. What did Bokuto say? Something, something, trust, uh, something?

Hinata shook his head. 

Instead, he tried to play it cool.

He put his arm on the table and leaned back. “Well, you’re pretty trusting pretty fast,” he said, as slick as possible, only squeaking just a bit when he felt Daichi’s eyes watching him closely. 

“Well,” Daichi shrugged, leaning back, “Bokuto has a lot of faith in you.” 

“Mentors are like that.” Hinata muttered. 

Daichi raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t know?” Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow back at Daichi. “Did he not tell you?”   


Daichi didn’t really want to tell the kid that he’d been in jail for the past couple of years, so he just stayed silent, watching him struggle with emotions. There was a clear sense of admiration for his mentor, but Daichi could tell that the kid wanted nothing more than to prove himself to Bokuto. 

“He doesn’t like talking about me much,” Hinata muttered, glancing off to the side with a pout, arms folded. 

“If you do this job,” Daichi leaned forward, tapping the plane ticket, “you’ll be all he ever talks about.” 

Hinata looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“If you don’t,” Daichi started, “then we’ll find somebody who isn’t quite as good and you can go back to feeling up stockbrokers.” He grinned before turning around to address a waiter, “Can we get the check please?”

When he turned around, Hinata had the plane ticket and passport in hand, having stolen it from right under Daichi’s hand in a matter of seconds. It was pretty impressive. 

Daichi glanced down to his hand, now just resting on the table top, then back at Hinata. “That’s the best lift I’ve seen you make yet.” He told him. 

Hinata ignored him, still squinting at the ticket. “Las Vegas, huh?” He asked, finally looking up and over at Daichi. 

Daichi gave a nod, “America’s playground.”

Hinata nodded back, looking at the plane ticket with eager eyes. He then looked up at Daichi, tucking the ticket into his pocket, “I’m in.”

Daichi grinned, getting up, “Good,” he tossed some money onto the check before walking towards Hinata. “Don’t lose that,” he pointed at where Hinata saved the tickets before patting his shoulder and walked away. 

***

“So let me get this straight,” Ukai said, his usual cigarette hanging from his lips, “everyone is going to meet here? At my place?”

Suga looked up, wiping his mouth as he chewed away at some snacks he laid out for when everyone came (they were mainly for him). He looked at Daichi who was leaning against the couch in Ukai’s grand living room. 

“That’s right,” Daichi answered with a nod. 

“Did you know this?” Ukai turned to look at Takeda who was entering with a tray of drinks that made Suga grin and clap his hands in delight. The dark haired man hesitated, shrugging, 

“I- well-” he set the tray down next to a bowl of chips, “they did mention it.” 

“We did mention it,” Suga repeated, grabbing a fizzing drink before taking a sip. 

Ukai looked at Daichi. 

“We did.” He confirmed. 

Ukai groaned, tilting his head back. He was doing this only to get back to Nekomata, not adopt a bunch of con artists in the process. 

“Don’t worry, they aren’t staying here,” Daichi reassured, “we’re just meeting here to talk about the plan-”

“-and then we all have rooms in the casino across from the Nekomata that we’re staying out until the heist is done.” Suga finished. 

Ukai and Takeda looked at each other with slight suspicion before looking back at the two. Ukai pointed his cigarette at Daichi, “You better mean that, kid.” 

Daichi chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. 

The doorbell then rang, taking their attention off of Daichi and towards the entrance door. 

“Speak of the devil,” Suga grinned, setting his glass down. 

Ukai sighed and got up, putting his cigarette out, “I guess I’ll be a proper host and go open the door for them.” He looked at Takeda who merely smiled and shooed him away with his hand.

The former casino owner rolled his eyes and chuckled, shaking his head, before he walked towards the entrance of his place. Silently he reminded himself why he was doing this again, even though he gave up the con man life after he started his casino up. 

Sure, his grandfather taught him a lot of helpful tricks and tips that made him pretty rich, but it became too risky. He figured that hiring younger pros would be a better idea. 

He took a deep breath before slowly opening the door to reveal a big group of young gentlemen of different looks all huddled together on his porch. 

“You guys get a ride share or something?” Ukai asked before stepping to the side to welcome them inside. 

***

Daichi and Suga planned for a little get-together before they talked specifics, seeing as a few were newcomers and others were returners, so they had everyone mingle and chat before Daichi planned to tell them about how they were going to rob three casinos and not get caught. 

The loudest were Tanaka and Nishinoya, who whined for the first ten minutes about Kiyoko not being there. Nishinoya soon moved on when he saw Asahi, thrilled that he didn’t retire and quit the con-life, the two of them chatting away while Tanaka made quick friends with Hinata. 

Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita hung around together, chatting about what they had been doing during their time off when Daichi was in jail. Suga jumped in a few times, throwing teasing remarks and looks at Daichi from across the room, making sure to speak loud enough for him to hear about how he was ‘cold decking teen beat seiyuus’ while Daichi was serving time. 

The newest faces were a pair named Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi, who came from Japan on Ikejiri’s recommendation. Daichi was chatting with Tsukishima, while the more timid looking Yamaguchi stayed behind his companion, trying to avoid conversation with Tanaka and Hinata. 

The quietest, besides Yamaguchi, was their greaseman, Kageyama. Who sat away from the group, silently drinking a glass of what looked to be milk. He kept glaring at Tanaka and Hinata, the both of them being rather loud, before the redhead sat down next to him, talking excitedly. Suga laughed when Hinata didn’t get much out of him, overhearing the dark-haired boy call Hinata a ‘dumbass’ in their native language of Japanese. 

Ukai occasionally talked with a few, deciding it only made sense to know the people he was going to be funding. They really were an odd group, but Suga and Daichi seemed to have faith in them, and Takeda liked them, so he really had no choice but to go along with them. 

After about an hour of chatting and messing around, Daichi dismissed himself from a conversation with Asahi and Nishinoya to step up to the front of the room, grabbing everyone’s attention. Even Tanaka and Hinata grew quiet.

Daichi smiled at them, wide and charming, “Gentlemen, welcome to Las Vegas.” Tanaka gave a cheer that was loosely followed by Hinata’s own attempt at a cheer. 

Daichi chuckled, “Hope everyone ate and is something close to being sober.” Suga laughed, leaning up against Asahi. 

“Well, before we get started nobody’s on the line here...yet.” He said, looking around the room. “What I’m about to propose to you is both highly lucrative and highly dangerous.” 

You could feel the anticipation and excitement buzzing in the air at the mention of those words, even Tsukishima looked interested, raising his eyebrow just slightly. 

Daichi drew a breath. “And well, if that doesn’t seem like your particular brand of sake,” he paused and then motioned to the snack table, “help yourself to as much food as you like, have a safe trip home, no hard feelings.” He smiled, knowing that everyone was on board from the looks in their eyes. 

“And if not?” Asahi piped up, looking at the others to see if they were getting ready to up and leave. They weren’t. 

Daichi grinned, “Then stay here.”

There was a beat, a moment for anyone who had any doubts to get up, grab a few snacks and drinks, and walk out of the door. 

Nobody did. 

“Alright then,” Daichi grinned, “let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that chapter! It was honestly so fun to write and I really can't wait for the next one! That's when stuff starts to go down!


	3. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With everyone together, Daichi and Suga lay out the plan. It's not an impossible task (though the make it sound like it is) but Daichi isn't telling them the whole picture. Suga finds out the hard way.

“So tell me what I’m looking at here,” Suga said, standing over a sitting Daichi, eyeing blueprints scattered all over Ukai’s marble tables. He was munching on some chips, spicy nacho cheese Doritos to be exact. 

Daichi chewed on the end of his pencil before pointing at it, “Well, this is the entrance to the vault-” 

“I can see that,” Suga said with a mischievous grin. 

“-and this-” Daichi continued on, ignoring Suga, “is the elevator down into the vault.”

“Hm,” Suga leaned further down, squinting, “cameras?”

“Yup.” 

“I’m guessing there’s a passcode and fingerprint scanner?”

Daichi gave a nod, biting the end of his pencil again. 

“Huh,” Suga muttered. “Can’t fake those…” 

Daichi looked up, turning his head to look at Suga who was hovering over his shoulder, “Do you have to eat right now? You’re getting crumbs all over the blueprint…” 

Suga just grinned, “I think I have an idea…” 

***

“Alright then, let’s get started.” Daichi grinned. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya cheered loudly, Suga punched Asahi in the shoulder, Tsukishima groaned and Ukai sighed and shook his head. 

Daichi grabbed a remote and switched on Ukai’s TV. Once on, it showed 3D visuals of the blueprints he and Suga had been going over and memorizing for the past couple of weeks so that they would have a better understanding of what was going down. These blueprint details were courtesy of Kiyoko, of course, who got them from an unknown source after applying to be an assistant of sorts at Nekomata’s casino, The Nekoma. Having her help them really saved Suga and Daichi’s asses sometimes.

“Gentlemen,” Daichi acknowledged, turning his attention from the screen to his comrades, “the three thousand block of Las Vegas Boulevard.” He motioned to the screen behind him. “Otherwise known as the Nekoma, the Toritsu, and,” he looked over at Ukai and Takeda, “the Karasuno.

“Not for long,” Ukai muttered before lighting a cigar with his eyebrows knitted. 

Daichi slowly turned away from them, “Together they make the most profitable casinos in Vegas.” 

He pressed a button on the remote in his hand and the screen flickered to a 3D image of the Nekoma’s vault in purple and blue lines. “This is the vault at the Nekoma,” he explained, stepping back, “it’s located below the Strip, beneath two hundred feet of solid earth.” 

Nishinoya whistled, his arms draped over the back of a chair. 

Daichi gave a small chuckle. “It safeguards every dime that passes through each of the three casinos above it.” He paused for dramatic effect. 

“And we’re going to rob it.” 

Hinata perked up, “A smash and grab job??” 

Everyone turned to the newbie with either raised eyebrows or looks of amusement. Smash and grab jobs were usually easy and quick steals, nothing really risky. But three casinos? The definition of a risk.

“It’s slightly more complicated than that, Hinata-kun,” Suga chuckled, making a ‘small’ gesture with his two fingers. 

Tanaka snorted and Kageyama glared at Hinata, calling him a ‘dumbass’ once more. 

Hinata huffed, turning red as he sat back down, “W-well, yeah!” He tried his best to seem like he was just joking around, but everyone else had turned their attention back onto Daichi. 

“Oh, by the way,” Daichi said, “these plans are courtesy of Kiyoko Shimizu,” he motioned to the screen with a smile, “the new assistant at the Nekomata.” 

“Kiyoko-saaaan!” Nishinoya and Tanaka cheered in unison. Ukai barked at them to be quiet. 

Daichi shook his head, suppressing a smile. He clasped his hands together and drew a breath, “Okay! Bad news first!” He grinned. “This place houses a security system that rivals most nuclear missile silos.” 

“Says a lot about nuclear missile silos,” Tsukishima muttered before taking a drink from his glass. Next to him, Yamaguchi snickered and whispered a ‘Nice one Tsuki!’ 

Nobody else really had any comments about it, still taking in the extent of the system. 

“Well, first,” Daichi continued on, “we’ll have to get into the casino cages. Which, anyone would tell you, takes more than a smile.” He pressed the remote button again and the screen flickered to a new layout. It was winding and confusing, the bright outlines of the walls made Daichi turn back to his crew. 

“Next, through these doors,” he pointed at two large doors that showed up on the screen, “each of which required a six-digit passcode that’s changed every twelve hours.” He glanced over everyone to make sure that they were all with him. 

Expectedly, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Hinata stared back at him with blank looks. 

Daichi figured he would just explain it a little simpler to them later and continued on, “Past those is the elevator,” he held out his hand, “now this is where it gets tricky.” 

Asahi made a face as if to say, ‘It wasn’t already tricky?’

“The elevator won’t move without authorized fingerprint identification-”

“-which we can’t fake.” Suga finished, looking at the others. 

“-and vocal confirmation from both the security within the Nekoma and the vault below.” Daichi continued with a nod. 

“Which we won’t get,” Suga sighed. 

“Furthermore,” Daichi pressed the button again to show the inner workings of said elevator, “the elevator shaft is rigged with motion detectors.”

Suga spoke up again, seeing Hinata’s confused face. “Meaning, that if we were to manually override the lift, the shaft’s exit would lock down automatically and we’d be trapped.” He ended it with a fake grin. 

“Now, once we get down the shaft though, then it’s a piece of cake,” Daichi smiled. “Just...two more guards with Uzis and the most elaborate vault door ever conceived by man.” He then added, his smile becoming more challenging. 

“Any questions?” He asked, looking at the group. 

“What about tunneling?” Kageyama asked. 

Suga shook his head, “Nope, tunneling is out.” he glanced over at Daichi, they already thought of that. “There are sensors monitoring the ground a hundred yards in every direction,” he sighed, “if a groundhog were to nest there, they’d know about it.” 

Daichi gave a nod, opening up his hands, “Anyone else?”

“Did you say something about good news?” Narita spoke up. 

“Yeah,” Daichi nodded, “The Nevada Gaming Commission stipulates that a casino must hold and reserve enough cash to cover every chip and play on its floor.” Daichi rocked back and forth on his heels, “That means, on a weekday, by law, it has to carry anywhere between sixty and seventy million dollars in coin.” 

There was some muttering and glancing at each other in curiosity and excitement. 

“On the weekend,” Daichi pointed his finger at them to emphasize the word, “it’s between eighty and ninety million.” 

More excitement buzzed through the air. 

“And on a game night, like the night two weeks from tonight, the night that we’re going to rob it?” Daichi’s sly grin started to creep onto his face. 

“One hundred and fifty million,” He said, “without breaking a sweat.” 

The amount made everyone fall silent, their eyes wide and on Daichi. Suga couldn’t help but giggle a bit, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth. 

“Now, there’s twelve of us, fifteen counting Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko, all of us with an equal share.” Daichi crossed his arms over his chest, “you do the math.” 

Those who could do the math looked at Daichi with shock or excitement. Those that couldn’t either held out their fingers and stared at them for a bit or complained about how Daichi knew that they couldn’t ‘do the math’. 

“And that’s in American dollars,” Suga piped up with a grin. 

Ennoshita whistled. 

“Exactly!” Suga grinned, pointing at him. 

“U-um, I have a question,” Asahi spoke up, raising his hand up slowly like he was in class. Having everyone suddenly turn and look at him made the poor man tense up even more, his arm visibly shaking. Nishinoya gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin. 

“Yes? Asahi?” Daichi asked, tilting his head. 

“Okay, um,” he cleared his throat and dropped his hand, “say we get into the cage and get through the security doors there and down the elevator we can’t move-” 

Everyone sighed, typical Asahi. Here he goes again.

“-and pass the guards with the guns and into the vault we can’t open-”

“Without being seen by the cameras,” Suga added with a tip of his head. 

“Oh yeah,” Daichi said, turning to the rest of them, “sorry, I forgot to mention that.” 

Asahi blinked. He had to take a breath before continuing on. “Well, say we do all that,” he motioned vaguely with his hand, “Then what? We’re just supposed to walk out of there with a hundred and fifty million dollars in cash on us?? Without being caught??”

Everyone’s heads turned from Asahi to Daichi and Suga. They looked on expectedly. Tanaka tilted his head as if wondering, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ Ennoshita took a breath, muttering things under his breath, no doubt trying to come up with ideas and solutions. Hinata was biting at his lips nervously, his hands twitching. And Tsukishima sighed and shook his head. He thought Daichi and Suga were supposed to be professionals. 

Daichi licked his lips and nodded with a half shrug, “Well...yeah.”

“Oh…” Asahi muttered. “Okay…”

He didn’t know why he expected Daichi to have an actual plan for an exit route. He should’ve known better. Nobody else but him seemed concerned over the lack of a plan, everyone rather reassured by Daichi’s confident and reassuring smile. 

Asahi sighed and put his head in his hands.

Daichi and Suga looked at each other and grinned. 

“Alright, here’s how we’ll begin,” Daichi announced, holding his hands up to get everyone’s attention. He and Suga had really only explained the basics, but now it was time to get into the details of it all. This would be where everyone learned about their roles in the heist, what they would have to do before they could set the whole thing into motion. 

“First task is reconnaissance,” Daichi told them, “I want to know everything that’s going on in all three casinos, from the rotation of the dealers to the paths of each cash cart.” He looked over them all with his sly smile, “I want to know everything about every guard, every watcher, and anyone with a security pass.” He started to list these things off with his fingers. “I want to know where they’re from, what their nicknames are, how they take their coffee.” 

He held up a finger, “But most of all, I want you guys to know these casinos.” He looked serious. It was very important that they didn’t miss a single thing when it came to how these casinos worked or they’d be dead before they even started. 

“These things are built as labyrinths to keep people in,” he continued, “but I want you guys to know the quick routes out.” 

“The second task is power,” Daichi held up two fingers. “On the night of the game we’re going to flip the switch on Sin City. Everything’s going to go out.” He snapped his fingers and grinned. 

“Third task is surveillance,” Daichi folded his arms across his chest, something he often did whenever he felt like his teammates were losing concentration. Usually the motion snapped their heads back in his direction. 

“Casino security has an eye and an ear on everything, so we want an eye and an ear on them.” Daichi said matter-of-factly. He didn’t think it would be an easy task, but it was worth a shot. 

“Then our fourth task: Construction,” this got a few eyebrow raises of confusion, “we’ll need to build an exact working replica of the Nekoma vault.” 

“For practice?” Ennoshita asked, one of the handful of people who were a little confused at this rather unusual task. 

Daichi and Suga glanced at each other before looking back at their team.

“Something like that,” Daichi shrugged off. His smile told everyone that he had something very special planned for that and it wasn’t just ‘for practice’. 

They all looked at each other. Narita simply shook his head, Asahi sighed and leaned back in his seat, Hinata tilted his head, and Tsukishima muttered something under his breath as he pushed his glasses up. 

Daichi cleared his throat, getting their attention again, “Fifth task: intelligence. We’ll have to have someone trailing key people like Nekomata himself to get information on things like codes and stuff. This is a very important part.” 

Suga nodded in agreement when Hinata looked at him with a face that read, ‘Is it really?'

“And our last task is transportation,” Daichi moved on, “we’ll need vehicles for several reasons, one being our ticket out and away from the casinos.” He unfolded his arms and rubbed his hands together, “After that, it’s about ten million in each of your pockets and the world at your hands.” He ended it with a charming smile. 

Nishinoya cheered loudly and Tanaka clapped furiously, wiping away fake tears. Yamaguchi flinched and looked at Tsukishima who looked mildly irritated by the two’s antics. Asahi was smiling at Nishinoya, but his hands were shaking and he was tapping his leg rather furiously. Kageyama looked like the only one there who was remotely normal, staring at Daichi with a blank look. 

Ukai took out his cigarette to bark at the dramatic duo to pipe down while Takeda just nervously laughed as their claps slowed to a stop. Once it was quiet, everyone looked to Daichi for more instruction, but he just stepped back, looking at Suga. 

“We’ll be splitting you guys into different teams,” Suga piped up, taking control of the conversation as he stood up and walked over to where Daichi was standing. “That way we can get these different tasks done within the next two weeks.” 

Daichi nodded, “That’s right. We want to try and overlap these tasks, just so we have enough time leading up before game night.”

“Reconnaissance will take the longest, so we’ve already gotten started with that with the help of Kiyoko, Ukai and Takeda,” Suga motioned to their two funders standing in the corner with a sweet smile. “But we’ll need you guys on the casino floors monitoring cash carts, security guards, and exit routes.” 

“Let’s go!” Tanaka hollered, standing up with Nishinoya following, the two high-fiving. Hinata looked at them with stars in his eyes, no doubt impressed by their energy and eagerness. 

“Anyone available at the time being will monitor the floor,” Daichi explained, “So it’ll be Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama.” He looked at the group sitting on the couch. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka smacked Hinata in the back in celebration and Kageyama huffed, folding his arms and muttering something about ‘dumbasses’ again. 

“Tsukishima and Yamaguchi will also be on the casino floor,” Suga continued, taking his gaze off the four and over to the newest members straight from Japan, “you recently got hired as dealers, right?”

Tsukishima nodded, “Correct.” 

“Right,” Daichi grinned, “they’ll be able to get inside intel on the different workers. Anything that’ll be helpful to us, swipe security badges if you need to.” 

“I could swipe badges!” Hinata piped up, waving his hand in the air. 

Tsukishima scoffed, “Oh please, I doubt it.” 

Hinata glared at the blonde, “I can!” 

Suga held up his hands, trying to diffuse the tension between the two, “Now, now, don’t get started…” he turned to Hinata, “though we appreciate your offer, your pick-pocketing skills will come in handy later. It’s easier for Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to do it because they’ll be able to get into places you won’t.” 

Tsukishima grinned smugly. 

Hinata didn’t say anything else, plopping back down in his seat, muttering under his breath. While he was excited for the whole thing, he didn’t think that just ‘monitoring’ people was any fun. Sure, he knew it was vital, but it wasn’t fun or risky. 

“Now,” Daichi thanked Suga with a smile, “we need our techies on power and surveillance.” 

“That’ll be us,” Ennoshita spoke up, setting his drink down and motioning to Kinoshita and Narita. 

“Precisely,” Suga nodded with a grin, “Ennoshita will work on the power aspect. Figuring out how we’re going to cut the power to the city when we need it.” 

“Got it,” he nodded, “you want broke, blind, or bedlam?” 

Daichi and Suga looked at each other before looking back at their explosives expert. “How about all three?

He grinned, “Done.” 

“Narita and Kinoshita, you’ll work with us and Takeda on the security systems at the casinos,” Daichi continued, looking at the two, “He helped design it so he can give some tips on how to disable it.” 

Narita and Kinoshita leaned over to look over at the man, smiling. They were pretty happy with their job, it was easy and without much risk. Something they enjoyed doing. 

“So that just leaves construction, intelligence, and transportation,” Asahi piped up, running through the different tasks in his head. 

“Correct,” Suga nodded, “for construction, Ukai rented out a warehouse a few minutes outside the town where we can build the model-”

“-he hired a whole crew to help us out with it too,” Daichi added before looking to Ukai and giving a nod of appreciation. 

Ukai simply shrugged, huffing out smoke, “So long as you boys give Nekoma a piece of my mind we don’t have to mention it.” 

Suga chuckled, “Well, we are grateful.” 

“So are we,” Takeda responded with a grin. 

“Well,” Daichi turned to the others, “construction isn’t something we have to really worry about since we have another crew taking care of that.” 

“As we speak too,” Suga nodded, piping in. 

“So, intelligence?” Asahi asked. 

Daichi walked over to Hinata, standing behind him on the couch, “That’ll be up to him,” he grinned, clasping his hands on Hinata’s shoulders. The action made the red-head jump in surprise, his head spinning around to look at Daichi. 

“Why him?” Kageyama asked. 

“Well,” Suga started, a bit hesitant, “he’s going to have to trail Nekomata, learn his schedule, agenda and what not-”

“-so we figured that our best bet would be to go with the least noticeable one of us.” Daichi finished with a slight squeeze. 

“He’s saying that because you’re short,” Kageyama deadpanned. 

Hinata turned bright red and snapped his head towards Kageyama with a challenging look. The black haired greaseman just looked at him with a slightly smug smile. 

“I’m not saying that,” Daichi said, though he totally was, “we just want to give you the most important job.” 

“Think of it as an opportunity to prove yourself,” Suga added with a smile. 

He and Daichi had discussed who they wanted to trail the casino owner. Kiyoko could do it, but they wouldn’t get the information they needed right away if Kiyoko was busy doing her real job and not her side hustle, so she was out of the question. Of course, they couldn’t do it either if they had other parts in the plan and if one of them got caught, it would be bad news for the rest of the team. 

So that just left them with their recruits. 

After a long conversation, they finally agreed that Hinata might be their best bet. They knew it was a gamble to give the newbie such a job as trailing their target, but Daichi was insistent on Hinata’s capabilities. 

“Do you really trust him that much?” 

“Yes, he’s a student of Bokuto, I’d trust that man with my life.” 

“I think you need to rethink that.” 

“You know what I mean.”

“So I’m just watching the guy?” Hinata asked, looking back at Daichi, “I don’t get to do anything else?”

“We’ll you’ve got to walk before you can crawl,” Daichi said with a shrug before looking up at Suga. 

Suga laughed, shaking his head as he made a spinning motion with his finger, “Reverse that.” 

Hinata took a breath, a new confidence in his eyes and grin as he accepted the job with an eager nod. He would prove himself, no matter how boring the job seemed. Follow an old man in a casino and not draw any suspicion. He could do this. 

Daichi smiled and let go of Hinata’s shoulders, now looking at everyone. “Last is transportation.” 

“We’ll need at least two vehicles,” Suga held up two fingers, “one getaway van and a UPS delivery truck of some sort.” 

“Our drivers will be in charge of picking those cars out,” Daichi said, looking over at Nishinoya and Tanaka. 

“And Tsukishima will be the one conning the seller into giving us both cars for a low price.” Suga added with a mischievous grin. 

Kageyama and Hinata both looked at Tsukishima with distaste as the other grinned softly to himself. 

“Alight,” Daichi clapped his hands together, “that’s it for the plan. Any questions?”

Asahi looked around before slowly raising his hand again. 

Daichi sighed, “Yes? Asahi?”

“What am I supposed to do during all of this?” He asked, lowering his hand. He didn’t hear them ever say that they wanted him to do something specific, and while he should’ve been relieved, he couldn’t help but worry. 

“We’ve got something special for you, don’t worry,” Suga waved his hand in the air with a grin.

Asahi swallowed.

***

The plans were set into motion the moment everyone woke up in their respected hotel rooms the next morning. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka were up early in the morning, banging on Hinata and Kageyama’s room so that they could grab breakfast before they had to go down to the casino’s floor to do some monitoring. 

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi enjoyed a quiet morning before they put their uniforms on and headed to their new ‘jobs’, silently praying that they wouldn’t have to run into the chaotic trio of Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka while they were down there. 

Narita and Kinoshita started to set up their monitors, untangling wires and plugging them into different outlets as they hooked up their security system. They did what they could to try and research the system, Narita on the phone with Takeda as Kinoshita typed away on a computer. 

Ennoshita slept in before he put on some worker clothes that he usually wore whenever the job required him to go underground and check out the systems in the sewers and such. He picked up some orange cones from Ukai’s before driving over to the Strip and pretending to be a worker checking the sewers across from the Nekoma, getting inside the sewers without any suspicions. He loved Vegas. 

Asahi laid nervously in bed, staring up at the ceiling as he thought about what Suga and Daichi had told him the previous night before he left Ukai’s. Apparently they wanted him to pose as a rich arms dealer to try and get Nekomata to trust him enough to let Asahi store something in his vault. It had been ages since Asahi role-played a role in these cons and he hated having to play such intimidating people every time. But, like always, Suga patted his back and said he didn’t have much of a choice because he was pretty intimidating even when he wasn’t trying to be. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking he’d sleep some more before he had to go to Ukai’s to try on some clothes. 

As for Daichi and Suga, the two woke up later than normal, having spent the rest of their night talking and thinking out the last bits and pieces of their plan. Suga was grateful to have Daichi back and Daichi was grateful to be able to do things like this again. Both of them were pretty confident that they could pull it off, but they weren’t about to say it aloud just yet. 

So, after breakfast, after Daichi got off the phone with Ukai and the man in charge of the construction, he and Suga headed over to Narita and Kinoshita’s room to check on the progress of the surveillance and see if they could be of some assistance. 

And that’s how it went for the next week. Everyone doing their jobs dutifully and reporting back to Daichi or Suga whenever they needed to. So far, everything was going smoothly. So far. 

***

Their first problem was security. 

“Where are we with the system?” Daichi asked, stopping his pacing back and forth in Narita and Kinoshita’s hotel room to look over at the several monitors the two had laid out. 

“Well,” Kinoshita started, rubbing the back of his head, “it’s not the least accessible system we’ve seen, but it’s close.” 

“I don’t suppose they have a closed network feed we can tap into?” Narita asked from his spot on the couch, laptop in hand. 

Daichi sighed, plopping down next to him. “Nope,” he shook his head. 

“Then it’s definitely a black bag job,” Narita muttered with a defeated sigh. 

It was silent before Kinoshita spoke up, “Do they employ an in-house technician?” 

“Two,” Suga answered from his spot at the table, scraping away at a plate of alfredo pasta. “And one of them is very lonely.” he winked. 

Daichi turned to their techies, “Tsukishima got intel on one of their technicians and Suga asked Kiyoko to swipe the badge from him.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge, holding it between his two fingers, “We just ask that you don’t tell Nishinoya or Tanaka.”

“They might go after the guy,” Suga added, wiping his mouth with a napkin. 

The other two nodded in understanding. 

Daichi tossed the badge to Kinoshita who caught it, despite not seeing that coming, his eyes wide. 

“Wait, wait,” he said, “me?”

Daichi nodded, “Use the badge to get in and then from there we can get into their system.”

“I’m sure you guys have a way to do that, right?” Suga said, standing up and walking over. 

“Well, of course we do,” Narita said, looking at Kinoshita with a slight frown as the other examined the badge closely. 

“Excellent,” Suga grinned with the clap of his hands. He turned around and headed to the table, pulling out some clothes from the bag before heading back and handing the neatly folded uniform to Kinoshita, “Here’s your uniform.”

Kinoshita took it, “T-thanks…” he cast one last glance at his partner before he got up and went to change, going to the bathroom and locking the door after him. 

“The cameras are going to be a problem,” Narita said once Kinoshita left, “they’ll see him and get suspicious. Is there any way to block the ones going to the entrance of the inside of the tech rooms?” 

“Don’t worry,” Suga grinned, holding up his phone, “I called Tanaka and Nishinoya earlier to set up a diversion.”

“They should give him enough time to go inside and do whatever he needs to do to tap into the camera,” Daichi said with the wave of his hand. “You do have a way to do that, right?”

Narita raised his eyebrow and turned, rummaging through a box of gadgets and wires before pulling out a tiny cubed shaped item and what looked to be a fat version of a mobile phone with a smaller screen and a stubby antenna. 

“We have a way,” Narita confirmed. 

“Right,” Daichi nodded before turning over his attention to the opening bathroom door as Kinoshita stepped out in a technician’s outfit. 

“How do I look?” he asked, putting on the cap. 

“Tech-y,” Suga responded. 

He shrugged, taking it, and walked over to where Narita was. He took the two items that Narita was just showing Suga and Daichi before putting them carefully into his pockets. 

Daichi went over the inside of the halls with Kinoshita, explaining where he would be able to find the tech room (all courtesy of Kiyoko) and the other scribbled down a map layout on the palm of his hand with a pen before covering it with a pair of bright yellow gloves. 

Once they had everything set, they deployed Kinoshita to the casino floor and Suga gave the call for Nishinoya and Tanaka to make their moves as Daichi, Narita, and him watched them set up monitors anxiously, waiting for Kinoshita to succeed in tapping into their system. 

Kinoshita drew a breath as he waited a few ways away from the entrance of the casino, watching as Nishinoya entered with a large cowboy hat and a whole bunch of balloons that Suga had bought the other night. Once he saw him enter, Kinoshita followed him inside. 

When they were inside, Kinoshita watched as Nishinoya and Tanaka’s little diversion went into play. Tanaka collided into the unsuspecting Nishinoya, making him let go of his balloons which covered the camera rather perfectly. 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going bud!” Nishinoya shouted, giving Tanaka a light shove. 

“Who are you calling bud,  pal ??” Tanaka challenged, the two of them now drawing attention to them. 

They went back and forth, friend, chum, jackass, shitty boy, with a few playful shoves here and there, allowing Kinoshita to slip to the entry doors, unnoticed. 

Kinoshita let out the breath he’d been holding since he left the hotel room and took off his glove to look at the map drawn on his hand. He bit his lip before looking up and quickly walking down the halls and towards the technician room where monitors, wires, and the whole system would be waiting for him. 

When he arrived at his destination, he quickly went to work, going through the wires, disconnecting them and reconnecting them. He placed the cubed shaped device onto the back of some of the wires and took out his pocket monitor and pressed some buttons. 

He was sweating loads, nervous about getting caught, and was constantly wiping at his head as he worked. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. 

So once he was finished, covering up his work with the countless wires behind the different monitors, he got up and left in a hurry, not wanting to sit around and see what was going on with Nishinoya and Tanaka’s act, no matter how amusing it seemed. 

“And we’re in,” Narita muttered as the monitors in their hotel rooms flashed on with the security footage of all the different cameras on the floor. 

They saw the colorful balloons blocking one camera, meaning Tanaka and Nishinoya were still at it, and they saw Kinoshita leave the room in a hurry down the hallway and back to the casino floor. 

“Why do they always paint hallways that color?” Daichi asked, motioning to one of the screens. 

“Well, they say taupe is pretty soothing,” Suga replied with a shrug, watching Kinoshita mix up his directions a bit before finally making it out. 

As Kinoshita was leaving, he could still hear Tanaka and Nishinoya arguing away as a guard tried to defuse the situation and get Nishinoya to remove the balloons. 

“You’re in my face!” Nishinoya fired, giving Tanaka a shove.

“And you bumped into me!” Tanaka shot back, shoving Nishinoya too.

“No! You got in my way!” Nishinoya insisted, “I was trying to deliver my balloons!”

“Gentlemen, please!” The guard begged. 

“Balloon boy! HA!” Tanaka teased, pointing, “You’re a balloon boy!” 

“I don’t have time for this!” Nishinoya groaned, throwing his hands in the air. He jumped up and grabbed the balloons before walking past them, muttering about he didn’t want to hang around circus animals. 

Once the balloons were removed, the three in the hotel room watching the camera could see Tanaka still taunting Nishinoya behind his back as the guard sighed and walked away. 

“Told you they’d come in handy,” Suga grinned at Daichi, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned back into the couch. 

“The balloons or Nishinoya and Tanaka?” Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Both.” Suga hummed. 

***

When the time came, Tsukishima headed out to find cars with Yamaguchi and the two trouble makers since they were the team’s drivers, amongst other things. 

They found two cars that would work perfectly, Yamaguchi sitting at the front of the van and Nishinoya and Tanaka hopped up and down in the back of the trunk to “test the wheels” as they said, but it was pretty obvious that they just wanted to have some fun. 

Meanwhile, Tsukishima stayed inside, trying to work out a deal with the seller. 

“Well, I’m sorry but eight-teen five a piece is the best offer that I can give you,” the salesman apologized as he watched Tanaka and Nishinoya bounce up and down on the back of the van.

“Hm, alright,” Tsukishima muttered, pushing up his glasses, “These are some decent looking vans that you’ve got here.”

“Yessir,” the man nodded, clearing his throat, “top of the line.”

Tsukishima gave a fake smile that quickly dropped once he shrugged. “Okay,” he muttered, “thanks for your time anyways, Mr….” 

“Oh, um, Shimada,” he answered, taking Tsukishima’s hand, “Makoto Shimada.”

“Japanese?” Tsukishima inquired, raising an eyebrow as he continued to shake the man’s hand, tightening his grip ever so slightly. 

“Oh yes! I came here a few years back from Japan.” He answered with a grin. 

“What a coincidence!” Tsukishima fake grinned, squeezing his hand. “I came to the states recently from Japan too,” he added in Japanese with a sly smile.

The man’s eyes widened a bit at the sound of his native language, not having expected this blond to be Japanese. He glanced down at his hand before looking back up at him. “Oh? Is that so?” He asked in Japanese. 

Tsukishima nodded, gripping Shimada’s hand now with both of his own after he placed one on top of the other. “I came here for a job,” he said, in English now, “I wasn’t doing so well in Japan and figured that I’d try out the American dream.”

He tossed his head back, motioning to the two knuckleheads trying out the car and the freckled one stepping out of the van, looking dizzy, “They helped me find a job here. Old highschool friends, y’know. I’m very grateful for their help.” 

“Oh uh-” Shimada started, trying to pull his hand away, but Tsukishima continued.

“I really wish I could repay them somehow, for helping me adapt to this totally different world.” He sighed, shaking his head, “they’re running low on money and the bald one needs to pay for a wedding, but I’m not sure how he’s going to do so.” 

Shimada glanced over Tsukishima and watched as the ‘bald one’ tapped on the side of the van like it was a drum. 

“And the freckled one? He’s got to pay off college loans, you know how America is,” he made a face, “they’re crazy. But I’ve been trying to help here and there, giving him money to help him along the way. Of course, my brother has been nagging me to come back to Japan but I’ve become their life support, so I couldn’t possibly-”

“Say what!” Shimada exclaimed nervously, snapping his head back to Tsukishima, “Let me tell you something-”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

“-if you were willing to pay in cash, then I might be able to lower the prices to sixteen each?” He looked at Tsukishima with hopeful eyes. 

Tsukishima grinned, getting exactly what he wanted.

“You would do that?” He asked.

“Oh yes!” The other nodded with a small smile. 

“Lovely,” Tsukishima let go of his hand finally and took a step back. “Wonderful,” he shook his head before pointing at Shimada who was staring at his cramped up hand. “They told me to come to you.”

Shimada laughed nervously, holding his hand, “Did they? Well, that’s good. I’ll, um, I’ll go get the paperwork, you just wait here.” He pointed back before he rushed out of there.

Tsukishima sighed, smiling softly at his success. Task six was complete. 

***

Asahi stood with his hands out as Ukai’s dressers took his measurements, looking like some crucified Messiah with the white suit coat he had on. 

They were fitting his suits for his character, Frederick Arthur, an important arms dealer from New York who wanted to safe house some things in Nekomata’s vault. Ukai and Daichi sat on a sofa behind him, watching as he tried on different looks. 

Daichi was watching Asahi closely, noticing how the man didn’t look to be all there, staring blankly at the mirror and flinching everytime one of the dressers called his name and asked for his input. 

Ukai gave Daichi a look, causing the other to sigh as he sat up and stood. “Gentlemen, could you leave us alone for a moment?” he asked the two dressers in the room. They complied with a nod, leaving the three in silence. 

“This is nice,” Asahi muttered, patting on his arm at the sleeve as Daichi walked up towards him. 

“It’s imported silk, Asahi,” Daichi informed. He sighed, rocking back and forth with his arms folded as he watched Asahi fumble with the buttons on his undershirt. 

“Asahi, are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

He didn’t get an answer right away. Asahi stopped fumbling, his hands paused right in the middle of buttoning the last button, and he stared blankly at Daichi, gears turning in his head. 

Daichi waited, watching as Asahi’s blank expression turned into something more challenging and determined before he finished what he was doing and straightened himself out. 

“If you ever ask me that question again, Sawamura,” Asahi finally spoke, “I’ll make sure we’re no longer on speaking terms.”

Daichi let out a low whistle as he slowly turned around to look at Ukai who looked rather amused. He mouthed an, “okay”, as he held out his hands. 

With Daichi’s back turned to him, Asahi relaxed a little, standing up to Daichi took a lot, but he couldn’t be exhausted yet. He had a part to play soon. 

He nervously licked his lips, taking a deep breath. 

“Fredrick Arthur,” he muttered, getting into character, “I’m Fredrick Arthur…”

Then Nishinoya and Tanaka came running into the room, grinning excitedly, scaring the shit out of all three men present. 

Asahi looked like he was about to faint while Nishinoya ran up to him, chattering with him excitedly with wild hand motions while Ukai stood up suddenly and yelled at them to quiet down for once. 

“Nishinoya! Tanaka!” Daichi barked, his strong voice getting the two to silence. “We were going to call you when we were ready!” 

“Sorry!” Nishinoya shrugged, “We just got tired of waiting.”

Daichi sighed and shook his head, Ukai muttered something under his breath and put out his cigarette. 

“Your clothes are waiting for you over there,” Ukai pointed towards two boxes, “Don’t mess them up.”

“Aye aye!” Tanaka saluted, walking over to grab the box labeled as his. Nishinoya followed suit, commenting on Asahi looking rather ‘badass’ which made the man blush in embarrassment. 

“Did you guys get the cars?” Daichi asked before they left, boxes in hand. 

“Of course we did!” Nishinoya called over his shoulder. 

“What do you think we are? Amateurs?” Tanaka added before Ukai closed the door behind them. 

Ukai sighed, “Are those two really capable of being bodyguards?” 

Daichi only grinned before turning to Asahi, “Alright, you’re up.”

***

Suga met with Hinata to check up on his progress and see where he was with Nekomata. The two of them sat in some chairs, watching as people poured into the Nekoma, heading to the casino games or to make reservations at the front desks. Nobody paid them any attention. 

Suga smiled, spotting Asahi walk in with Nishinoya and Tanaka behind him, carrying black bags that were filled with Asahi's "belongings". 

Hinata didn't seem to spot them, making Suga grin even more in amusement. 

"So, tell me about Nekomata." Suga said, turning in his chair to look over at Hinata who was practically vibrating in his seat from lack of doing anything  but  trail an old man.

Hinata flinched just slightly, snapping out of whatever trance he was in to look at Suga. He paused, thinking before he took a breath. “That old man is crazy,” he started, “he arrives at the Nekoma every day at 2 p.m. Same car, the same driver-”

Suga looked down at his watch, ‘2:39’, they just missed him. 

“-he remembers every valet’s name on the way in,” Hinata continued, “which isn’t too bad considering he’s pretty rich.”

“Filthy,” Suga added with a nod.

Hinata thought for a bit before pointing, “His offices are upstairs, I know that much. It seems to me that he works really hard because I don’t see him out of there until about seven o’clock.”

“Where?” Suga asked. 

“Oh, um, lobby floor,” Hinata clarified.

Suga nodded, leaning back in his chair, “What does he do then?”

“He spends about three minutes on that floor with his casino manager,” Hinata stopped and smiled a bit, making Suga raise an eyebrow of confusion. 

The redhead then shut his eyes and gave his cheeks a slap, muttering under his breath, confusing Suga even more. 

“What do they talk about?” Suga asked, wondering why the hell Hinata was acting weird all of a sudden. 

“Just business,” He muttered, rubbing his now bright red cheeks, “Nekomata likes to know what’s going on in his casino, he likes to be in control.” He sighed, dropping his hands, “There’s rarely an incident that he doesn’t know about or handle personally.” 

“Huh,” Suga muttered, biting his lip. “Then after that?”

Hinata shrugged, “He spends a few minutes with the high rollers, chatting with them and whatnot, and then he’s out by seven-thirty. An assistant-”

“Kiyoko?” Suga asked. 

Hinata shook his head, “Kiyoko told me she moved down to front desk work. She thought that there were some people getting suspicious of her.” 

Suga pouted and slumped in his seat, “Boo…” 

“Anyways, an assistant hands him a black portfolio,” Hinata continued, “the contents are the day’s take and new security codes. And then he heads to back up to his office before leaving in the same car he arrived in at nine.” 

“Busy man,” Suga whistled, standing up with a stretch. 

“No kidding,” Hinata muttered with a pout. It wasn’t very eventful or difficult to trail an old man for the past three days and he didn’t like it all that much. 

“Still,” Suga put a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, “I’m impressed.” Hinata looked up and the other grinned brightly. “Daichi put his faith in you and you’ve delivered.” 

Hinata shrugged his hand off his shoulder, “It wasn’t the most exciting-”

Suga waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, let’s just see if your schedule is right,” he checked his watch. They had time to kill before it would be seven. 

“Ever play blackjack?” Suga asked Hinata, a mischievous look in his eyes. 

***

At ten till seven, the two of them were ready to see Nekomata, waiting inconspicuously at the bottom of the stairs leading into the casino floor. 

Hinata was rocking back and forth on his heels in anticipation, eyes darting around while Suga was munching at some shrimps in a cocktail.

“He’s crazy,” Hinata muttered under his breath, watching the stairs. 

“That portfolio you mentioned,” Suga said, trying to get Hinata to stop being so nervous, “it has all the codes to the cage doors?”

Hinata glanced at Suga, his attention still on the stairs before he slowly drew it away. “Uh-huh,” he nodded, eyeing the shrimps with some distaste. “Two minutes after they’re changed, he’s got them in his hands.”

Suga gave a nod, licking his fingers clean. 

Hinata looked away from the shrimp and back at Suga, “Suga-san, I’m telling you, the guy is crazy. He might look like some jolly old man, but he’s ruthless.” 

When Suga didn’t say anything, Hinata continued on. “The last guy they caught cheating in here? Not only did send him to jail for ten years, but he also had the bank seize his house and then he bankrupted-”

“-his brother-in-law’s car company,” Suga finished with a nod, “I heard it from Ukai.” 

“The old man doesn’t just take out your knees, Suga-san, he goes after your livelihood and anyone else close to you,” Hinata muttered with a frown, Bokuto and Akaashi on his mind. 

Suga raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face as he took a bite out of a shrimp. “You scared?” He teased. 

“Are you suicidal?” Hinata fired back, knowing how crazy this job was going to be if they got caught by Nekomata. 

Suga chuckled, “Only in the mornings.”

Hinata frowned and took a step back, kicking at the ground with a sigh. 

Suga shook his head, grinning softly as he mixed his shrimp into his cocktail sauce. “So what now?” He asked, glancing over at Hinata. 

Hinata turned back to the stairs, “Well the casino manager comes down a little before Nekomata meets him at the top of the stairs.” He pointed, Suga’s eyes following his finger, “that’s when they talk business.” 

“Where does the manager come from?” Suga asked, dipping his shrimp.

Hinata shrugged, “I think the office of the assistant manager. Or next in line to own the hotel or something.” He frowned, “They might be together or something, dunno.” He huffed and slumped his shoulders. 

Suga raised an eyebrow in suspicion before he went back to his shrimps. 

“Oh,” Hinata sighed next to him, “this is my favorite part of the day.” 

Suga took a bite of his shrimp as his eyes slowly trailed upwards, first to Hinata who was looking up at the stairs in awe, a small smile on his face. 

The look of pure amazement and admiration made Suga chuckle, wondering who could’ve caught the boy’s eye because it certainly wasn’t old man Nekomata.

He grinned and followed Hinata’s gaze to the top of the stairs where he spotted Nekomata, dressed in an off-brand white suit with a red tie, greeting what Suga assumed to be the casino manager. 

Immediately Suga's grin disappeared. 

He dropped the last bite of his shrimp into the cocktail sauce, the gears slowly turning in his head as the two made their way down the stairs, exchanging information. 

His eyes followed them as a dyed blond haired head walked past him and Hinata, the other clueless to the newest problem in their heist. 

If he was here...That meant…

"He's so pretty," Hinata sighed besides him, "I thought that maybe we could have his help in this heist. Like I could talk to him or something but I haven't even caught his name." 

"Kenma." Suga replied bluntly, setting his cocktail aside on a rail. 

"Huh?" Hinata's head snapped towards Suga. 

"His name is Kenma." He repeated. 

Hinata opened his mouth to ask another question, but Suga was already walking away, looking like he just found the last missing puzzle piece. 

With no other option, Hinata took one last glance at the manager, Kenma, and scrambled after Suga. 

Hinata didn't catch up to Suga until the other was outside hailing a taxi. 

"Woah, woah!" Hinata called after him, running up to his side. "What's wrong? Do you know Kenma-San or something?"

Suga sighed, looking rather annoyed, "Something like that." 

Hinata blinked. He'd never seen Suga look so upset up until now and it was honestly pretty scary. He was worried for whoever that scowl was for. 

Suga should've know, he was honestly so stupid to think that Daichi just wanted to do this job just to do it. 

Of course this was about Tetsuro Kuroo.

Daichi Sawamura, Suga thought, you're in so much trouble. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a filler, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Again, thanks to @RuneOak for beta reading it!


	4. Underlying Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga suspects Daichi of running a job in a job, with good reason too. There's a new element to the game and now Suga isn't so sure he wants to play anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I created a playlist for the series so you can listen to some groovy songs from the Ocean's soundtrack or hear some other songs that fit the storyline! 
> 
> It's called Karasuno's 12 and you can listen to it  here

Back at the warehouse, the group was putting the finishing touches on the Nekoma vault set. Daichi insisted on everything being almost exactly like the vault plans Kiyoko brought them and since Suga wasn’t here to argue against it, they all helped with putting everything in. Everything down to the last poker chip. 

Ukai was overseeing them, making sure that Nishinoya and Tanaka didn’t knock anything over. The two of them were talking rather loudly as they stocked the shelves with loads of fake cash, pretending that it was real and that they were rich. 

Tsukishima was chatting quietly with Yamaguchi, the two of them going over the different things they found out about their co-workers that day. Apparently, the girl at the counter was pregnant again and that would allow Kiyoko to take her place if they acted fast enough. 

Asahi was still at the Nekoma, preparing for his role with Takeda, his moral support. 

Daichi was standing a few feet away from the set, playing with two poker chips in his hands, examining them over and over again, as if lost in thought. 

“When’s Suga-san coming back?” Narita leaned over to Kageyama, whispering so that Daichi wouldn’t overhear them. 

The boy, who had been enjoying a glass of milk as he took a break from moving around shelves, just shrugged. “Maybe Hinata failed to show up and he’s looking for him.” 

“What are you guys talking about?” Nishinoya’s head popped into their conversation, the man carrying a box of tools in his hands. His voice was like a loud whisper, so it scared both of them, making Narita and Kageyama jump. 

“They’re just worried about Suga-san and Hinata-kun,” Ennoshita reassured, coming up from behind Nishinoya and placing a hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t very far from Nishinoya and Tanaka whenever Suga wasn’t around, so they shouldn’t have been surprised when he joined their little ‘meeting’. 

“Oh?” Nishinoya whispered, if you could call it that, turning his head. He glanced around before grinning and shifting the weight of the box onto his hip so that he could point to the entrance of the warehouse. “No look, there he is.” 

Sure enough, Suga was entering through the open garage door of the warehouse, dressed in a casual light blue suit with a darker tie and coat. Behind him was Hinata, looking as confused as ever in his white jacket and black shirt. 

They watched closely as Suga practically marched up to Daichi while Hinata spotted them and scurried over. 

Narita watched Suga fold his arms as he stood next to Daichi, watching as the shorter man muttered something to the other. That could only mean trouble. He looked to Hinata for some help but all he got was a confused look and a shrug. 

“Oh man,” Narita muttered with the slight shake of his head. This couldn’t be good. 

Suga tapped his foot to get Daichi’s attention. The other blinked a few times before putting the poker chips into his pocket before turning to Suga with a raised eyebrow. 

“We need to talk,” Suga said, sounding annoyed and serious. 

Daichi hesitated, wondering if he did something wrong, “Okay…?”

“Now.” Suga insisted, taking Daichi’s arm by the wrist and dragging him away from the rest of the group, towards the entrance of the warehouse, an open garage door with a nice view of the Nekoma. 

Daichi followed, he didn’t really have a choice, glancing back at the set a few times to see if Narita or Ennoshita would come to his rescue. They didn’t. 

“Tell me this isn’t about him,” Suga said, pointing a finger into Daichi’s chest as they walked to the entrance. “Or I’m walking, I’m walking right out of his job right now.” His voice was full of annoyance and disbelief, Suga making sure to put emphasis on every other word. 

“Who?” Daichi asked as Suga let go of his wrist and moved his finger away from Daichi’s chest. 

Suga let out a huff as he stopped at the entrance, facing Daichi, “Kuroo. Kuroo Tetsurou.” 

He watched as Daichi’s expression started to freeze up as if he was wondering how Suga knew. 

Suga folded his arms and rolled his eyes, “Tell me this isn’t about getting revenge on your husband who sold you out to the cops.”

Now it was Daichi’s turn to point. “Ex-husband.” He corrected, frowning. 

Suga didn’t seem to care, he ignored the correction and continued on. “Tell me, Daichi,” He said, studying him intensely, “Tell me this isn’t about that.” Suga knew how much Kuroo hurt Daichi, after ten years of friendship, four years of dating, and two years of a terrible marriage, there was bound to be some broken pieces.

Everything had gone well, up until Daichi was taken under Ukai Senior’s wing, along with Suga. Kuroo didn’t like Daichi sneaking out all the time and coming back with lots of money with no good reason as to why he had it. Being the man that he was, Daichi was dense and didn’t think it was such a big deal. Kuroo, on the other hand, wanted Daichi to make an honest living. Kuroo was a man who believed that you should work hard for the money you make. They got into an argument and Daichi walked out. Kuroo followed, found out about his job, set up a fake con for Daichi as a trap, and Daichi was sent to jail. A few months in, he would receive divorce papers while he rotted away in a cell. It was something straight out of the Spanish novellas Suga liked to watch, it was crazy.

Suga understood why Daichi would want to get revenge, he would too. But he would do so if it was just him and Daichi, like it had always been. Not Daichi, him, and several other people, they couldn’t risk that. And the frustrating part was that Daichi knew it too. He was just dense sometimes. 

So, Suga continued to stare Daichi down, waiting for an answer with an impatient tap of his foot. 

Daichi hated whenever Suga studied him. He was a smooth conman who could pull off heists with just his smile and charms, but the second he was being stared down by Sugawara Koushi? He lost all his nerve. 

He paced around Suga, sighing as he played with his hands, stacking fists on top of each other, clasping them together, anything to try and get Suga’s gaze off his face for even just a second. 

He groaned and rubbed his chin when it didn’t work, Suga still staring him down. So, he held up two hands in defense, surrendering. 

“Okay,” he admitted, “it’s not about that entirely.”

Suga groaned and shook his head in disbelief, turning away from Daichi and putting his hands on his hips. He couldn’t look at him anymore, honestly. Not at his big, dumb face, Suga thought childishly. 

“Suga,” Daichi reached out and tried to get him to turn around, Suga shrugged off Daichi’s hand. “Suga,” he repeated, dropping his hand now, “remember when we first got into this business?”

Suga didn’t answer him, turning his head as Daichi approached his side. 

“We said we were going to play the game-”

“-like we had nothing to lose.” Suga finished with a nod, finally turning to look at Daichi. 

Daichi stopped, licking his lips as he drew a breath. Suga’s expression read, ‘Well?’ eyebrow arched, eyes reading, hands still on his hips. Daichi took a small, slightly challenging, step forward to show he wasn’t as scared as he really was. 

“Well, I lost something,” Daichi continued, voice quiet. 

Suga’s eyebrow climbed even higher. 

“Someone,” Daichi corrected himself. 

This seemed to make the other relax a little, his expression faded and his shoulders slumped back down. Suga didn’t look as annoyed now, at least he didn’t seem like he was going to punch Daichi or anything. Maybe just scold him at best. 

“That’s why I’m here.” Daichi finished, tilting his head slightly to get a better read on Suga’s expression now in the dim lighting of the outside warehouse lights. 

The other bit his lip, now looking down as he considered this, thinking. He shook his head and scoffed in disbelief, turning to glance at the set before looking back at Daichi. “You’re not trying to get him back?” 

Daichi shook his head. Suga knew that he wasn’t lying by the look Daichi was giving him. 

“Good, because the moment it becomes two jobs, you’re going to have to choose. And unlike last time, you can’t choose your pride over anything.” Suga pointed again, stepping closer so the pad of his finger pushed into Daichi’s chest again. 

Daichi opened his mouth to say that he knew that, but Suga continued on, 

“This time it’s different Daichi, this time it’s not just you and I at risk. You mess up because of some testosterone and you’re going to put everyone in danger,” he motioned to the group working on the set. 

“Okay, but if everything goes to plan, then I won’t have to choose,” Daichi pointed out, a small smile twitching at the ends of his lips. 

Suga turned back to look at him, his face expressionless for a second before he ran a hand through his hair and let out a small chuckle. Sometimes he wondered how Daichi could have so much confidence, and he’d have to remind himself that it was in the name: con man. 

Daichi sighed in relief, relaxing his shoulders as he glanced around before stepping closer to Suga. “Why did you bring this up? Did you see him?”

“Kenma,” Suga hummed with a grin, watching Daichi’s face scrunch up at the mention of his ex’s new boyfriend. “Think Hinata has the hots for him,” Suga added with a giggle. 

Daichi blinked. “Well, good for him.” 

Suga rolled his eyes, playfully this time, before he nudged Daichi with his shoulder. “You’re not being really assuring about the whole ‘I’m over him and this is only a revenge job and not something to try and get him back job,’” he teased. 

The other glared at him, “You gonna walk out?”

Suga hesitated, shrugging, “Maybe. The minute you do something stupid, I’m out.”

Daichi broke into a grin, kissing Suga on the cheek, “Thanks.”

Suga just hummed in reply, smiling softly.

***

“Kuroo-kun! I’m glad you could make it!” 

“Please, Nekomata-sensei, the pleasure is all mine.” The soft greeting was followed by a thin grin, cat-like eyes hiding behind jet black bed hair, as he entered the owner’s office. 

Nekomata sat at his desk, wearing his usual cream-colored suit with the red tie and pocket-handkerchief. His personal Maneki-Neko desk toy’s paw went up and down, only briefly pausing when Kuroo took a seat in front of his boss. 

“So, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?” he asked, flicking the little hand of the cat as he held his head in his hand, elbow on Nekomata’s desk. 

The older man straightened his tie and cleared his throat, “Well, I’m sure it’s no secret that I want to hand the Nekoma down to you when the time comes.”

Kuroo raised his head at this, grinning slightly. He knew that the old man was going to eventually hand the hotel to Kuroo, it really was only a matter of time anyways. 

He’d been working under Nekomata since highschool and came over to the States with him when the man decided to build his casinos in Las Vegas instead of Tokyo. The man was something of a father-figure to Kuroo, having taught the rooster haired man everything he knew. 

“I have no doubts that you’ll be able to handle it,” Nekomata continued on, grinning. “You have shown yourself to be a reliable person and an even more ruthless businessman.” 

Kuroo leaned back, putting his hands behind his head as he gave a shrug, “What can I say? I learned from the best.”

This earned a jolly laugh from Nekomata, who was very easy to flatter, as Kuroo learned the first year of working with him. “Marvelous!” He chuckled, shaking his head, “just marvelous!”

Kuroo shrugged, smiling, finally sitting upright in his chair. 

“Anyways,” Nekomata waved a hand in the air, “I wanted to talk to you about something. I think you’re ready for a test trial.” 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m heading back to Japan to take care of some business with the casinos there,” he explained, “so I’m going to need someone to take care of the casinos while I’m gone.” He looked at Kuroo with a Cheshire grin. 

“You want me to take care of the casinos while you’re gone?” Kuroo questioned, sounding a little shocked. He didn’t think an opportunity like this would present itself so soon. 

Nekomata nodded, “If you’re up for it. It’s only for three weeks, you would be in charge of overseeing the three casinos, checking in with the managers, and making sure that the guests are doing alright. Everything I taught you.” He folded his hands and leaned across the desk, “Will you be able to do it?” 

Kuroo let out a breath, studying Nekomata’s face. He was serious about this and Kuroo was sure an opportunity to prove himself even more wasn’t going to come again any time soon if he passed this up. 

He grinned and fixed the cuffs of his suit before giving a short nod. “Of course, sensei, when do I start?”

Nekomata grinned with delight. “I leave right after the destruction of the Karasuno.” 

“So two days?” Kuroo asked, knowing that they planned to demolish the casino tomorrow after Nekomata figured that building a totally new casino would be so much better than trying to redecorate the place. The current day was Monday, meaning that Nekomata would be leaving on Wednesday at night since that was the day they planned to blow up the casino.

Nekomata nodded, “In two days, for three weeks, the casinos are yours.”

Kuroo grinned widely, “Excellent.” 

He got up and wiped off the imaginary dust from his navy blue suit before buttoning the coat and looking at Nekomata, “Anything else Sensei?”

“Oh no,” the old man shook his head, “that’s all.” He waved his hand, dismissing Kuroo. “I know you know how to handle yourself and these casinos. Kai has more information if you need it, but you’ll do just fine.” 

Kuroo gave a nod before he headed towards the door, “I won’t let you down, Sensei.” 

“You better not!” Nekomata called after him with a chuckle as Kuroo exited, a wide grin on his face. 

***

Asahi was sitting nervously at a table with a handful of other guys, men who were actually the kind of guys that Asahi was pretending to be. 

Some of them were wealthy businessmen, others arms dealers, and some Asahi was sure were part of the mafia or something. 

His foot was tapping furiously under the table and he could feel himself work up a sweat which made him wonder if he should cut his hair sooner or later. It was damn hot in Vegas sometimes. 

He took a breath, glad that the men were all in conversations with each other and rarely asked Asahi to chime in with his own thoughts and opinions. 

His task was to meet with the casino owner, in hope that he would allow them to store something in their vault for the heist. 

Of course, it was going to be fake jewels, designed to look priceless when they were actually explosives, thank you very much Ennoshita. It was the only way they'd be able to open the vault doors. So Asahi couldn't mess this up. No pressure or anything. 

His hands fumbled with a pill that he was hoping would calm his nerves. After he took it the man behind him spoke up,

"Weak stomach Mr. Arthur?" 

Asahi froze up a bit before shaking his head and swallowing the pill. "I don't believe in weakness," he said in the most American voice he could muster, "it cost too much." 

He reached out to take a sip of his drink, pausing before the tip of the glass touched his lips. “And I don’t believe in questions either,” He added before taking a sip. 

The man watched him closely before shrugging it off. “Well, let me give you some advice,” he leaned a little closer to Asahi. Instead of acting surprised like he was, Asahi put on his most annoyed Suga face he could mimic before leaning away a bit. 

The man didn’t seem to notice, because he went on, “I wouldn’t get into Nekomata for too much money,” he glanced over Asahi’s shoulder before looking back at him, “or his apprentice Kuroo either. He doesn’t fool around.” 

At the mention of Kuroo, Asahi almost choked on his drink. 

That was a name he hadn’t heard in a long time, and hearing it was like getting a brick thrown at your face. So THAT’S why Daichi wanted to go after these casinos. It made so much sense now. 

He never met the guy, but he heard about him from Daichi and Suga. Apparently Daichi and Kuroo were dating after high-school, and for quite some time too, before Daichi decided to call it off after he was taken under Ukai Senior’s wing as a con-man alongside Suga. He figured that Kuroo was still bitter after that and let it slip about one of Daichi’s jobs after the two got back together and started a whole fight about who was more successful without the other. Which resulted in Daichi being caught and jailed. It was all drama and Asahi was glad he missed it. But now he was afraid that by doing this job, he was going to get caught in some drama. Just great. 

“Evening, Teshiro,” Kuroo greeted as he walked over to the bushy eyebrowed man guarding the high rollers part of the casino, where Asahi was currently sitting. “Anything for Nekomata or I?”

The light-haired man nodded, “Mr. Arthur,” he motioned with his head to Asahi who was looking their way. “In the third position. He wanted to speak with Nekomata-sama privately.” 

Kuroo was eying Asahi, watching as he slowly turned his head away from them and went back to playing the game in front of him.

“Who is he?” Kuroo asked, his eyes still watching him. 

Teshiro shrugged, “A businessman of some kind, working in New York. He’s pretty vague.”

Kuroo turned his head and raised an eyebrow. 

“But I asked around,” Teshiro assured, “it seems like he deals primarily in arms. He might be, uh,” he cleared his voice and leaned a little closer to Kuroo to whisper, “mafia. With Golzine.” 

Kuroo nodded slowly, glancing back at the tall man, “Hm...Fredrick?”

Tershiro gave a short nod, “Yes sir.”

Kuroo ran through his list of known associates with Golzine before he shook his head, “Never heard of him…” he paused, “Is he staying here?”

“Yes, he checked in not too long ago,” Teshiro answered, “he’s in the suite.” 

Kuroo thought for a bit, watching Asahi before looking back at Teshiro, making the money symbol by rubbing his two fingers together to which Teshiro responded with a nod. 

Huh.

Kuroo never saw the man in the casino before, but he figured that he might as well take care of whatever the man wanted if he was going to be in charge of the casino soon.

“I’ll take care of it,” Kuroo assured Teshiro, waving his hand, “just let Nekomata-sama know.”

The man nodded and walked away, leaving Kuroo to the high rollers. The dark-haired man smiled, straightening out his tie as he walked towards Asahi. 

Asahi could see him approach out of the corner of his eye, making him tense up. He didn’t want to talk to this guy, he wanted the old man, please and thank you, but when he felt the hand on his shoulder, he didn’t think he had much of a choice. 

“Mr.Arthur?” Kuroo asked behind him. 

Asahi wanted to run away right there, but he drew a shaky breath and turned his head, mustering as much courage as he could. Everyone was counting on him, he couldn’t just let them down so soon in the game. 

He cleared his throat and gave a nod, “That’s me. And who might you be?”

“Kuroo Tetsuro,” he grinned, taking his hand off, “I hear you wanted to talk with Nekomata?”

“Yes,” Asahi nodded, “Where is he?”

“He’s busy at the moment, but whatever you wanted to discuss with him, you can talk it out with me.” Kuroo said, “I will be taking over the casino very soon, so if it’s matters that involve the casino then I should hear about it.” 

Asahi swallowed. 

“W-wonderful,” he nodded, getting up. He hit his leg on the table and had to bite his lip to hold in a painful groan. “Let’s talk in private.” He added with a slight hiss. 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow but didn’t say much. He simply nodded in agreement and motioned for Asahi to follow him. 

This is going just great, Asahi thought sarcastically as he hobbled across the room to follow Kuroo, just great. 

***

“Where are you going?” Suga asked, looking up from the vault blueprint he was examining and over to Daichi who was making his way over to the exit in what looked to be a new suit top. 

The man stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, flashing Suga a bright smile, “I’m just going to go to the casino and check and see how Asahi is doing.”

Suga hated when Daichi lied to him because the man knew that he couldn’t lie to Suga. “Is that so?” He asked, putting the blueprint down and raising an eyebrow, “Why not just send Ennoshita? We need to go over the vault with Kageyama.

Daichi waved his hand in the air, walking backward, “You go over it with Kageyama, and Ennoshita is busy. I’ll just go check on him really quickly.”

Suga glanced over at Ennoshita who was hanging around Narita, just chatting away. The other met his eyes and then shrugged before going back to his conversation with Narita. 

With a sigh, Suga shook his head, “Alright, fine.” He looked up and saw Daichi smiling at him genuinely, now not the one he used to get his way with others. “Just don’t do anything stupid,” he called after him, reminding him of their deal. 

Daichi turned around and gave a thumbs-up before he walked out of the warehouse. 

Suga watched him leave, chewing on the insides of his cheeks. He needed some gum. 

He turned his head and saw Hinata watching Daichi as well, shifting nervously on his feet as Kageyama yelled at him, the other clearly not listening. Hinata’s head then slowly turned towards Suga once Daichi disappeared and his eyes widened when he saw that Suga was watching him. 

Suga just chuckled and motioned him over. Hinata quickly complied, figuring it was better than dealing with Kageyama. 

Once Hinata was close enough Suga leaned down and whispered into his ear, “I have a job for you, so listen closely…”

***

Now away from the others, Kuroo began to ask Asahi questions, wondering why he was here and who he was exactly. 

“So, Mr. Arthur,” Kuroo started, turning around to face him, “what could we do for you today?” 

Asahi inhaled sharply when Kuroo turned around and met his eyes, sending a chill down Asahi’s spine. He had to pull himself together though, clearing his throat and nervously fixing his tie, Asahi took a few steps away from Kuroo and went to stand by the balcony looking over the casino game floor. 

“I came with a proposition,” Asahi started, focusing on a lady at a craps table with a bright pink hat to try and calm him down. It was a terrible looking hat. 

“A proposition?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow as he slowly walked over to where Asahi was standing, leaning against the vanner, his side turned to Asahi. 

Asahi nodded, keeping his eyes on the lady’s hat. “I have a package arriving here from New York in a few days,” he started, “a black briefcase, standard size, with contents that are very, very valuable to me and a few others who you do not need to worry with.” Asahi waved his hand in Kuroo’s direction before quickly putting it away to wipe the sweat off. 

“I can put it in the house safe for you,” Kuroo offered, thinking that if he didn’t, he would have to deal with New York’s mafia and he didn’t want that. 

Asahi shook his head, “The house safe won’t be sufficient. It’s not secure enough.”

“Mr. Arthur,” Kuroo took a small step forward with a little chuckle, “I can assure you that the house-safe is very secure.” 

“And I can assure, you, Mr. Kuroo,” Asahi turned to look at him, mustering his most challenging face he could, “that your actions in this matter won’t go overlooked.” 

Kuroo drew a breath, backing down just a bit from the look in Asahi’s eyes. They were challenging, determined, and there was something else there that Kuroo couldn’t decipher, but he didn’t want to try and find out what it was. 

“So what can you offer me,” Asahi spoke in a low voice, putting emphasis into the ‘me’ to allude to the fact that he wasn’t the only one in play, “other than the house safe?”

Kuroo knew what he should’ve talked this decision over with Nekomata before he said anything. Everything went through him before any decisions were made. However, he figured that if he was going to inherit the Nekoma, he better just start making the final decisions. And he also figured that Nekomata wouldn’t matter all that much because he would be gone during the time when they would safehouse whatever Mr. Arthur was asking them to lock up. 

Plus, if he was with the mafia in any way, Kuroo needed to play it safe, They could greatly benefit to have the New York mafias working with them. And it would be very bad for them if Kuroo dismissed them and didn’t comply with their requests. 

So, after his thought process, Kuroo smiled softly at Asahi, giving him a nod. “Alright, I’ll offer you our vault.” 

Asahi smiled, letting out a huge mental sigh of relief. “Perfect. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Kuroo. You’ve made a good decision.” 

Kuroo chuckled and shrugged, “Well, thank you.” He called over Teshiro before turning back to Asahi, “Talk over the details with Teshiro here, I’m a little late to a dinner meeting.” 

Asahi gave a nod, watching as Teshiro walked over and Kuroo dismissed himself. 

Well, that was easy. 

***

Daichi drew a breath, straightening out his suit coat as he glanced around the casino game floor. He knew that he shouldn’t be doing this, but hearing about Kenma and Kuroo from Suga made something go off inside him that couldn’t rest until he saw them face to face. He was risking a lot, he knew that. Suga would probably leave, he knew that. But he pressed on. 

As he walked through the rows and rows of slots and tables, Daichi’s eye caught on a tall figure walking across the hall, coming down from some stairs, and headed towards the dining area. 

Daichi held his breath, watching as the figure walked away, back turned to him, as emotions bubbled up in his chest. He shook them out with a little cough before he slowly began to follow the figure to one of the different restaurants on the dining floor. 

Once he came to the corner, he stopped, pretending to examine the outside menu when he was actually just watching the tall figure make his way over to a reserved table in the corner where a small figure with long blonde dyed hair sat, tapping away at a phone. 

“Bingo,” Daichi muttered, looking away. 

He figured to give them a moment before he walked past the counter with a group of people, passing through into the restaurant without having to worry about getting a table. He didn’t plan on staying or eating. He was just going to sort some things out. 

When he walked, he tried to ignore the angry feelings that were boiling in his stomach, ones that made him want to grab Kuroo and punch him across the face while calling him a bastard because he made Daichi lose five years in his life in the slammer. He tried to ignore the longing tugs in his throat at the sight of Kuroo for so long, in that suit, with his usual cheshire smile leaning across the table. He tried his best to ignore all of that, keeping his cool as he approached behind Kenma, flashing a fake, but convincing, smile at Kuroo who was now staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. 

“Hello Kuroo,” Daichi said, stopping right behind Kenma. 

Daichi had waited years and years for a moment like this. To show up in Kuroo’s life again to show him that he didn’t hurt him (although he did) and that Daichi was recovered and whole again (he wasn’t yet). He was going to treasure Kuroo’s reaction to the best of his ability. 

Kuroo was clearly shocked, his eyes wide and mouth open as he leaned across the table, hand out and on top of Kenma’s. He wasn’t blinking, but Daichi could tell that his gears were churning in his head, trying to figure out what was going on here. It really looked like Kuroo was seeing a ghost. 

Kenma, confused by his boyfriend’s antics, raised an eyebrow in annoyance and turned around. “What are you-” he stopped in his question, seeing Daichi standing behind him with a smile. 

“Oh,” Kenma muttered, pulling his hand away from Kuroo and putting it under the table on his lap. He felt really awkward now and almost got up to leave, had it not been for Daichi standing right behind him. 

Daichi chuckled softly, there was a reason why he came up behind Kenma. He wanted him to be here for this conversation. 

“What are you doing here?” Kuroo asked in a hushed, harsh whisper, glaring up at Daichi from across the table. 

Daichi glanced around nonchalantly before shrugging. “I’m out,” he answered. He bit back a remark of ‘No thanks to you,’ not really looking to have another fight.

Kuroo blinked, shaking his head, “What do you mean, ‘you’re out’?”

“Of prison.” Daichi snapped, his thoughts of not wanting to start a fight suddenly flying out the window. Did he seriously not remember? Not remember what he did to Daichi? 

Out of the bottom of his eyes, Daichi saw Kenma flinch at his slightly raised voice, so Daichi moved from Kenma, heading around the table and standing in the middle, giving Kenma some room. 

“Remember when I said I got a job that would pay off so big, I’d be set for life?” Daichi asked as he moved, “Remember when I said I’d come back and prove I was doing so much better without you and then I didn’t?”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his seat, as Daichi was now closer to him, but there was a faint smile on his lips. Not because he was happy to see Daichi, of course not, but because he remembered. In fact, he remembered rather clearly. 

“Oh,” Kuroo muttered, feigning innocence, “I guess I do remember now. How was your paid vacation, Daichi?” He put his head in his hands, his voice like an amused cat’s purr. “Was it charming?”

“About as charming as you,” Daichi scoffed, narrowing his eyes at Kuroo. 

Kuroo’s smile faded, eyebrows dropping to a glare. “What do you want?” He asked bluntly. He really didn’t have time for his ex to show up out of the blue, he was on a date with Kenma and he had a casino to run. Daichi was nowhere on that list. 

Daichi smiled a bit, strained and fake. He ignored Kuroo’s question, folding his arms and leaning on the back of the table next to their chair. “Now, they tell me that I’ve paid my debt to society.”

“Funny, I never got the check,” Kuroo muttered, reaching out for the glass of wine before taking a sip. 

Daichi glared at him slightly before he turned his attention to Kenma, giving what would look like a warm smile, but had no warmth behind it. “How are you Kenma? I haven’t seen you since the highschool volleyball matches.” 

“‘M fine…” Kenma muttered with a shrug, not really looking at Daichi. He was shifting in his seat, glancing around and glaring at Kuroo occasionally as if to say that Daichi being here was his fault. And it kinda was. 

“What do you want, Sawamura?” Kuroo asked again, this time with more authority. He didn’t like it when people made Kenma uncomfortable, especially ex-husbands. 

Daichi drew a breath, running a hand through his hair before answering, “I came back for you.” 

Kuroo looked at him with disbelief, Kenma blinked several times in shock, now seriously thinking about up and leaving. 

Blinking, Kuroo shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Daichi. He knew him for too long that Daichi didn’t mean that. No matter how Kuroo’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that, Daichi hurt him too. Maybe he didn’t send him jail, but he still hurt him. 

“You’re a thief,” Kuroo hissed, “and a liar.”

“I only lied about being a thief,” Daichi defended, “I don’t do that anymore,” 

“What?” Kuroo questioned, “Steal?”

“Lie.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow but he dismissed Daichi with the wave of his hand. “Well, I’m with someone who doesn’t have to make that kind of distinction.” 

Kenma glared at Kuroo for putting him on the spot, his ears bright red. 

“Oh yeah,” Daichi muttered, watching as Kuroo reached his hand out and Kenma slowly took his hand across the table, “I’m sure it’s very easy on you to have a partner who works the same job as you.”

Kuroo groaned, ducking his head before turning it to look up at Daichi. “Do you know what your problem is?” He asked. 

“I only have one?” Daichi questioned with a slight smirk. 

Kuroo narrowed his eyes and shook his head, despite his venomous grin. “You’ve met too many people like you,” he answered. Daichi immediately thought of the Ukais and Suga. Kuroo intertwined his fingers with Kenma’s, smiling softly at the man across the table from him, “I'm with Kenma now.” 

Daichi watched them smile at each other from across the table, Kuroo giving a soft look as Kenma blushed lightly and tried to hide behind the loose strands of his hair. 

Daichi almost rolled his eyes. 

“How long have you been together?” Daichi asked, “Did it happen right after I was arrested? Or were you already seeing him when we were together?” 

Kuroo slammed his hand on the table. 

Kenma jumped, pulling his hand back and Daichi tensed, locking his jaw. 

“While you were out on your “jobs”, Sawamura, Kenma was there for me. There for me in ways that you weren’t because you were too “busy” with other things!” Kuroo was raising his voice a little now, some of the other diners were starting to look their way, making Kenma even more nervous. 

“Those people you stole from?” Kuroo asked, pointing a finger at Daichi, “They have insurance to compensate for what you took, they got made whole again. Meanwhile, I had to leave Japan to try and piece my life together!” 

Daichi rolled his eyes this time, shaking his head. “Oh yeah, I’m sure that was just devastating for you.” He mocked, “Leave Japan, work under one of the richest guys in Japan at a casino, sure beats being in a jail cell for five years!” 

He knew he shouldn’t be yelling about these sorts of things, people were listening in and looking at them at this point, but Daichi didn’t care. Or, Daichi tended to have a bit of a temper that when Suga wasn’t around, it went a little unchecked. 

“Oh, you don’t know  _ anything _ !” Kuroo stood up, hands slammed down on the table, pushing his chair back so suddenly, someone a few tables down gasped in surprise.

Daichi took a small step back, holding out a hand to keep some space between them. “Okay, fine. You don’t love me anymore,” he spat, “you want to make a life with someone else.  _ Fine _ .” He glared and lowered his hand. “But I’m going to have to live with that. Not him.” He motioned to Kenma who tensed up, going stiff. 

Kuroo’s gaze followed Daichi’s hand to Kenma before he relaxed a little, taking a breath and letting his shoulders drop. He sighed and plopped back into his seat, leaning back and rubbing his temples. 

“Spoken like a true ex-husband,” he muttered, shaking his head as he dropped his hand back down to the table. 

“I’m not joking, Kuroo.” Daichi said sternly. 

Kuroo glared up at him, firing back, “I’m not laughing,  _ Daichi _ .”

There was a bit of a silence before Kuroo picked up his fork and gave the prongs a flick, examining as they waved back and forth. “You have to admit,” he started, ignoring Daichi’s glaring gaze, “there’s a bit of a conflict of interest when you give me advice about my love life.”

“Yes,” Daichi immediately answered, “but that doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.” 

There was a pause. 

Kuroo put his fork down, still not looking at Daichi. "Do you remember what you said when we first started dating?" He asked. 

"That I knew what I was doing?" Daichi answered with the slight raise of his eyebrow. 

"Do you?" He asked, now looking at him. It was a challenging look, cat eyes behind jet black hair, studying Daichi in a way that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Because if you don't," Kuroo continued before Daichi could answer, "then I suggest that you turn around and leave. I don't think Japan's parole premises expand all the way out to Vegas." He reached out for his drink again, smiling slyly behind it before taking a sip. 

Daichi swallowed, biting down on his tongue. He knew this was risky, yet he did it anyways. He just needed some form of clarification and closure, that’s why he did it. At least, that’s what he was going to claim if Suga ever found out where he was. 

Kuroo watched him carefully, he truly didn’t care for Daichi anymore. He stopped once he found out how Daichi was lying to his face about his occupation. A cop, Kuroo’s ass. He was the complete opposite. But it wasn’t easy to drop the man who’d been in Kuroo’s life for a considerable amount of time just like that. It hurt Kuroo too, but he felt like he didn’t have a choice. Daichi hurt him first. 

"I know what I'm doing." Daichi finally spoke, firm and confident. Now he knew what he was doing. He was sure of it. 

Kuroo scoffed, shaking his head. It was like Daichi never matured in the five years he was in prison. He honestly thought that maybe those years would set him straight (not literally). 

Kenma glanced between the two of them, now that they weren't saying anything. Daichi was busy looking at Kuroo while Kuroo watched the wine swirl in a circle in his glass. 

The younger one cleared his throat, getting the attention of the two older ones.

"So, I guess we won't be seeing Daichi anytime soon?" Kenma asked, quietly and carefully, watching Daichi out of the corners of his eyes while his attention was mainly on Kuroo. 

“I don’t know,” Daichi muttered truthfully, giving half a shrug.

Kuroo set his wine glass down and gave Daichi a teasing grin, “But I know. I know everything that happens in my hotel.” He motioned around to the room. 

Daichi scoffed, “Your?” 

Kuroo narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything, “Someone’s always watching in these hotels.” 

“So I should put those towels back?” Daichi joked, showing Kuroo that he wasn’t threatened one bit. Though, Kuroo probably suspected him now, so that was a bit of a problem. 

Kuroo shook his head, his attention on Kenma now, taking the man’s hand again. “Oh no, the towels you can keep,” his voice was low, giving Kenma a reassuring squeeze. “I have what I need here.” He gave Kenma a genuine, soft smile. 

Daichi sighed, awkwardly stacking his fists on top of each other as he watched them with a frown. He wasn’t jealous, no, he wasn’t at all. He should be happy, for the both of them. It was probably better for Kuroo to be with his childhood friend and not his high school friendly rival. That made sense, Daichi figured, he wasn’t jealous at all. 

Clearly, he was intruding, Daichi didn’t have anything more to say, so he gave a nod, clasping his hands together as he addressed the two. 

“Well, good to see you, Kenma,” He smiled at the other. 

Kenma shifted uncomfortably in his chair, but he gave a nod and a nervous smile. “Oh, um, t-take care.” he muttered, quickly looking away. 

Daichi’s smile then faded as he turned his head to look at Kuroo. It really had been several years since he last saw him, and he wasn’t so sure that he’d see him so soon. But he figured that it was a good sign that seeing Kuroo for the first time in years didn’t give him the same feeling of seeing Suga for the first time in five years. 

That absolute joy that he felt in his chest when Suga first spotted him in that Hollywood club with all the seiyuus, the feeling of a sore jaw from smiling so much at Suga’s overthinking as they played poker (he hadn’t smiled much in the time that he was in jail) and that warmth he felt when they were finally alone and got to go over the plans for the Nekoma job. 

He didn’t feel any of that. 

Was he finally moving on?

“Well,” Daichi cleared his throat. He licked his lips and gave a short nod of acknowledgement, “Kuroo.”

The other barely turned his head, his eyes just glancing over at Daichi, “Sawamura.” 

And with that last cold response, Daichi turned a heel, straightened out his tie, and walked out of the restaurant without even looking back. 

It felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulder, one he’d been carrying for years without even realizing it. Hearing for himself that Kuroo had truly moved on hurt, Daichi wasn’t going to lie, but he wasn’t going to spend time trying to get him back. Clearly, Kuroo didn’t like him, didn’t approve of what he did. What he does. He wasn’t going to throw out the only thing he was good at just to get back with the guy who outed him. Right? He wasn’t?

Daichi shook his head and sighed, shaking his shoulders like that would help his thoughts leave his body. 

“Revenge job,” he reminded himself under his breath as he walked out of the restaurant, “it’s a revenge job.” 

He could do this. 

Daichi drew a breath and looked around the casino. Still trapped in his mind though, Daichi didn’t even notice a familiar red head leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the casino. 

***

By the order of Suga-san, Hinata was tasked with the newest job of tailing Daichi. 

Hinata wasn’t exactly sure why he needed to tail their leader, and he wasn’t at all confident that Daichi wouldn’t notice, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t say no to Suga. And he wanted to know what was going on between the two because after seeing the casino game manager, Suga started to act all weird and it freaked Hinata out. 

He tried asking around when Suga took Daichi to the side to talk, but nobody else seemed to have any idea of what might’ve been up. Ennoshita had shrugged and said that maybe Asahi knew since the three of them were friends in high school, but Asahi wasn’t there to ask questions. Anyways, Hinata doubted that Asahi would know or, if he did, that he would answer Hinata. 

So that’s why, after Daichi left the warehouse, Hinata was back in the casino, leaning against the wall as he watched Daichi talk with a tall dark haired man, maybe in his early thirties like most of the group, and the “pudding head” that Hinata thought was cute. 

He couldn’t catch much of their conversation at first, being rather far away, but from facial expressions it seemed like the dark haired man and Daichi knew each other. 

It wasn’t until they started yelling that Hinata wished he brought some popcorn to eat while he watched the drama unfold. But then again, he’d choke on it the moment he overheard that the man Daichi was talking to was his ex-husband and the other one at the table, the cute one, was the ex-husband’s new boyfriend. 

Hinata was shocked. He didn’t think Daichi was married, but he sulked for about five minutes over the game manager being taken before his brain registered that HOLY SHIT Daichi was married and they were going to rob his ex’s casino. 

It suddenly made a lot more sense now and Hinata felt a lot of pressure put onto him suddenly before he felt a sinking feeling in his chest. 

Was Daichi really going to risk all their livelihoods on some revenge? On his ex? 

Hinata frowned, thinking that Suga probably wanted Hinata to find out if that was the case so that he could call it quits. 

Daichi wouldn’t do that though, Hinata thought, he wouldn’t put us all on the line, right?

Hinata was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Daichi headed out of the restaurant. He turned quickly to hide his face, watching Daichi’s silhouette pass in the flashing advertisement posters they had along the walls that showcased their different dining options. 

Once he saw his figure disappear, Hinata turned his head, making sure that the coast was clear before he slipped on his hoodie and hurried back to the warehouse, wanting to get there before Daichi. 

The new information swirled around in his head as he tried to answer some of his questions and tried his best not to think of more he would probably bother Suga with when he got back. He wasn’t sure if he had more questions than before he knew about the whole ex-husband business.

Oh man. 

What did he get himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks again to @RuneOak for beta reading this! 
> 
> I was going to publish this chapter tomorrow but I had so much fun writing it and couldn't wait to let y'all read it, so here it is!! Hope you enjoyed it and I *promise* we'll get to the actual heist soon. We just needed to sprinkle in some drama >:) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. The Pinch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even with the minor hiccup, the gang continues on as planned. 
> 
> That is, until Ennoshita has some unfortunate news that leads to an even more unfortunate series of events.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming,” Nekomata greeted his audience, speaking fluent English rather flawlessly, “and especially to Ukai and Takeda for their generosity to let me take over the Karasuno.”

Ukai raised his glass, faking a smile while Takeda did a small bow, also hiding behind a fake smile. Both of them knowing that they didn’t willingly give their Karasuno casino over to the old man, they didn’t have a choice. The Karasuno wasn’t what it was anymore, no longer the hottest attraction on the Strip, especially not after the arrival of the Nekoma and Toritsu. Selling it to Nekoma was a matter of survival, not willingness. 

It was two days after Asahi came back with the good news that Kuroo had agreed to let them house their “briefcase” in the casino’s vault, allowing for the explosives needed to blow the door to be inside the vault. 

Kiyoko also came to them with news that Nekomata would be leaving for Japan for three weeks the day after they planned to demolish the Karasuno. Everyone seemed surprised at the news and hopeful, wishing that it meant an easier job for them if they didn’t have to worry about the owner. Kiyoko told them about Kuroo being in charge, and everyone but four individuals (Daichi, Suga, Asahi, and Hinata) were shocked by the news and wanted to know more about the guy. 

After a thought out conversation in front of the group, Daichi and Suga decided that it would be a good idea to move the date of the heist up one day. So instead of robbing the casinos on game day, Friday, they would do it the day before, on Thursday. That way Kuroo had less time to get used to his new position but they had less time to prepare. And it would also mean a lesser sum since it wasn’t a game night, but it was also a lesser chance that they would get caught. 

They would need some information on Kuroo though.

And though Kiyoko promised them to get more information on Kuroo, she gave Daichi a small, stern look, that made everyone turn their heads to him in curiosity. 

Daichi simply shrugged and didn’t say anything about that, nodding his head and telling Kiyoko, “You do that.” 

Suga had glared at Daichi after that, Hinata nervously glanced at the two and did his best to avoid Daichi’s eye contact for the rest of the day. 

The night that he trailed Daichi was nothing short of interesting. He liked to think that he learned a lot, and everything that he learned, he told Suga.

Hinata liked to think of Suga as calm and collected, compared to Daichi’s easily angered and headstrong attitude, but after he told Suga what he was able to see and hear, Suga swiped the blueprints and everything on the work table down and onto the floor as he cursed in Japanese. 

It alarmed Hinata, so he figured that next time he would maybe add a silver lining instead of giving it to Suga straight. He might get hit by a flying object or something. 

But, two days after his first side mission of watching their leader, Hinata was trailing Daichi again. This time, they were outside in a crowd and it was day, the afternoon Nevada sun beating down on them despite the wind. 

On the stage in front of them were Nekomata, along with the two guys that Hinata had seen with Daichi two nights prior. He reminded himself that the black-haired one was Daichi’s ex-husband and the blonde one was Daichi’s ex-husband’s boyfriend, but it kinda made his two brain cells vibrate around in his brain, so he just shook his head and concentrated on Daichi’s head in front of him. Thank god the people in front of him weren’t that tall. 

Along with Nekomata were Ukai and Takeda, who were invited to see their casino off. Hinata remembered Ukai making a big deal about it one time in the warehouse. He paced around, muttering under his breath as he smoked a cigarette. He had just finished arguing about the whole event with Nekomata on the phone and then Takeda, who was at the house, before he gave up and just accepted the fate of his casino.

Ukai had honestly been a big help to them, Hinata knew that much. None of them were really rich, per se, he was the only one who had lots of cash to spend on the different things that they needed to pull off this heist. And no matter how much Ukai complained or fussed at them, Hinata knew that he cared and appreciated what they were planning to do. He just didn’t verbally express it. He did so in subtle actions - letting them stay at his house, giving them money whenever they needed it, providing them with food, teaching them how to play cards, and so on. 

Hinata just thought it was nice of him. 

So, he was going to make sure that Nekomata got what he deserves when they rob him. 

You don’t mess with crows, Hinata thought to himself as he watched Nekomata talk. Whatever he was talking about was going right over Hinata’s head. He was too busy lost in thought, trying to keep an eye on Daichi whose head was turned towards Kuroo’s direction on Nekomata’s right. 

“And so, without further ado,” Nekomata stepped back from the microphone and motioned to the fuse positioned in front of them with a smile. 

Two security guards in black suits walked up and pushed down on the fuse together and what followed was the explosions placed under the Karasuno to demolish it, bringing it down. 

The crowd started to turn around to watch as the casino fell to the ground in a cloud of smoke, the explosions shaking the earth. 

Hinata thought to turn around also so that Daichi wouldn’t spot him when he turned, but Daichi didn’t turn around at all. He didn’t pay any attention to the commotion behind him as the Karasuno disappeared into a pile of brick and steel. 

Instead, Daichi’s body remained facing the front, his head turned to Kuroo, no doubt his eyes were on him. And Hinata’s eyes then latched onto the back of Daichi’s head as the rest of the audience watched with awe as the Karasuno became no more.

***

Ennoshita was in his hotel room, carefully working on the fake gems that would go in Asahi’s briefcase for the vault. 

They were emerald green and would act as a sort of tape for the explosive devices that would be placed on top of them by Kageyama once he was in. It was Ennoshita’s job to make sure they looked as convincing as possible and would also double as helpful explosives. 

So, naturally, he could do it in his sleep. 

While he was working, he had the tv on to the channel that was covering the destruction of the Karasuno, despite the actual thing happening right behind him through the hotel window. 

He heard the explosions go off behind him and he looked up from his work and up at the screen which showed the casino come crashing down in a pile of smoke. 

“Wait a minute,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the screen. 

He set his tools down and stood up, turning around to see the huge pile of rubble and cloud of smoke spanning over an area of Vegas. He walked over to the window and eyed the destruction before groaning and hurrying out of the hotel room, grabbing his jacket on the way out. 

He left a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob before he closed the door behind him, muttering things about Nekomata under his breath. 

This was a potential problem. 

***

On the day of the destruction of the Karasuno, Suga had made a call for available members of the group to meet at Ukai’s to discuss some things since the heist would take off two days after the newfound news of Nekomata being gone. 

They had to act quickly before Kuroo got a handle of things with Nekomata gone, that way they didn’t have to make any changes in their original plan if Kuroo ran the casino differently. 

Suga wasn’t surprised to see Daichi not make it, Hinata was gone too, no doubt following Daichi wherever he was. Probably at the destruction of the Karasuno, Suga thought, knowing Kuroo would be there for the event. 

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi weren’t present either, both of them still in their day jobs at the casino game floor, it only now getting busy since it was the afternoon. Along with them, Ennoshita was absent, busy with his task of making the explosives for the vault door. Suga wasn’t worried about him, he could trust him. Unlike some people, Ennoshita was reliable and responsible. 

Then, of course, Ukai and Takeda weren’t there, the two of them attending the big event. Suga felt bad that they had to see their casino go up in smoke, but they were doing this job for a reason and he didn’t want to let them down. 

But other than them, everyone else was there, sitting around a model of the Nekoma vault at Ukai's place while Suga went over the plans for the next couple of days. 

“Today, the day is yours, do whatever you want with it,” Suga said, leaning against the couch with his arms folded. “Just make sure whatever you do is legal for the most part because we don’t want you guys getting caught before we do the job,” He added with a teasing grin, mainly looking at Tanaka and Nishinoya who were notorious for betting and getting into fights when they lost. 

“Later today though we’ll have a quick rehearsal,” Suga continued, checking his watch, “let’s say at seven, so that gives you guys some time to kill before then.” 

“And the heist on Thursday?” Narita piped up. Thursday would be tomorrow and everyone seemed to get a little anxious at the mention of the date.

Suga smiled and nodded, “Call time is five-thirty. Kiyoko will help put you boys into make-up and costumes.”

Nishinoya and Tanaka grinned. 

“Asahi’s package arrives at seven o five and Hinata will grab our codes.” Suga pushed himself off the couch with his hip and stood up before the group. “And if all goes well?” He sighed, “We’re a go.” 

He walked around to where Kageyama was sitting on the sofa, putting a hand on his shoulder, “At seven-thirty, Kageyama-kun gets locked in and we’re committed.” He gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze to which the boy responded with a look of determination and a small smile.

“Then from that point, we’ll have thirty minutes to blow the power, or else he suffocates.” Suga withdrew his hand and gave Kageyama’s shoulder a few light pats before he walked back around the sofa and sat on the armrest as Kageyama’s smile faded at the thought of possibly suffocating in the vault. 

“Wait, Kageyama could die?” Asahi spoke up, looking rather pale. 

Suga bit his lip, “Possibly, but that’s not our goal.”

“Let’s try to avoid that, please,” Narita spoke up, waving his hand in the air, “we’re trying for zero casualties on each side.” 

“If Ukai and Takeda wanted someone dead, they would’ve hired a hitman,” NIshinoya pointed out, “not our ragtag group.”

Suga snapped his fingers and pointed at Nishinoya, grinning, “Exactly!” 

“Wait, Kageyama, are you okay with this?” Kinoshita asked, leaning to look at Kageyama sitting at the opposite end of the couch. 

Kageyama looked at them all, blinking a few times before he let out a breath. Everyone was watching him closely. 

“So if the power doesn’t cut, I die?” He asked, looking at Suga. 

“Possibly.”

“And Hinata is getting the codes?”

“What do you have against him?”

“Make it Daichi.” 

“Done,” Suga nodded, clasping his hands together. 

Daichi could easily get the codes from Kuroo. How he would though, Suga didn’t want to think about. Hinata was just a stand-in, but if Kageyama felt better with Daichi doing it than Hinata, then Suga could make it happen. He’d have to give Hinata another job, something Suga was sure that Hinata wouldn’t enjoy, but they needed Kageyama to be alive to do his job. 

“Any other questions?” Suga asked, looking at the rest of them. 

They didn’t say anything, just shaking their heads and muttering no’s. 

“Perfect!” Suga chirped, clasping his hands together, “Alright boys! Go have some fun! I’ll see you later today!” 

***

At seven, the group was back at the warehouse, this time everyone was present. Everyone but Ennoshita, who they still couldn’t get into contact with just yet, but Suga still had faith in him. Daichi on the other hand?   


The man came back and said that he was busy making some last-minute bribes and check-ins with Kiyoko, flashing his megawatt smile as he did so before quickly dismissing Suga’s attempt at a conversation and instead he headed over to where Kageyama was to go over some things. 

Suga huffed and cast a glance at Hinata who gave the slight shake of his head to tell Suga that it was a lie. Suga didn’t need to be told that, he knew, but he didn’t say anything. 

“He didn’t even ask where Ennoshita was,” Suga muttered under his breath as he watched Daichi chat with Kageyama. 

“Where is he?” Takeda asked, looking around. 

“I hope he didn’t get cold feet or anything,” Ukai remarked with a frown. 

Suga shook his head, “He doesn’t do that anymore...He’s learned and grown from running away from a fight.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing back at the open garage door. 

“I’m sure he’s alright though,” He assured the two older men, “he knows what he’s doing, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.” 

Ukai raised an eyebrow but Takeda nodded and smiled, thanking Suga for the reassurance. 

Suga then clapped his hands together, getting everyone’s attention. He figured it wouldn’t do them any well to continue to wait around for Ennoshita, so they were just going to get started on this short rehearsal right away. 

“Alright, everyone!” Suga exclaimed, “Let’s take it from the vault!” 

Kageyama dismissed himself from Daichi, walking past Hinata with a peculiar look on his face as if he was trying to figure out what he was before he headed over to the cart he was supposed to be in. He took off his sweater, wearing a tight, black leotard underneath as Takeda opened up the cart and Kageyama lifted himself over it before slipping right in. 

“Woah! Kageyama!” Hinata exclaimed, running over and peering inside with wide eyes, “How did you do that??” 

Kageyama looked up at him with a slight glare, “Practice, dumbass.” 

Tsukishima’s head popped up next to Hinata’s, Yamaguchi’s forehead just peering over a little. 

“Is that comfortable, King?” Tsukishima teased, seeing Kageyama practically folded in half in the small cart. 

Kageyama just glared and before he could say anything, Takeda closed the cart before anyone could start anything. 

“Can he breathe in there?” Hinata asked, turning to Tsukishima as Takeda wheeled the cart away and up to the set. 

Tsukishima shrugged, “Does it look like I know? I’m just glad that wasn’t me in there.”

Hinata folded his arms and chewed on the insides of his cheeks as the other two stepped away from him and walked over to the set. He thought he could do that too. He probably could. Maybe he’d try later. 

Meanwhile, Tanaka and Nishinoya fixed up the vault scene, getting everything together, from the fake lasers to closing the fake vault doors and cleaning up the trash they left from having snacks earlier. Meaning, they just threw the wrappers at each other till Daichi yelled at them to stop. 

Everyone else gathered in front of the set while Takeda rolled the cart into the vault, placing it next to the three other vault carts they already had positioned in. 

“Alright,” Suga said, loud enough so that Kageyama could hear from inside the cart, “considering everything goes right up until this point, Kageyama-kun you should be in the vault around eight o’clock.” 

Everyone watched as Kageyama kicked open the top of the cart, his feet and hands sticking out the top before he grabbed the sides and hoisted himself up with ease. Once he was able to bring his feet completely above the cart, he held himself with one steady hand as he used the other to close the top of the cart before lowering himself onto the four different carts with a sigh of relief. 

Daichi nodded his head in acknowledgment, it was pretty impressive. 

“Okay,” Suga nodded, grinning, “that’ll put you in the middle of the room. Ten feet away from everything.” He motioned around to the set as he walked over to where everyone else was standing, taking a spot in between Daichi and Hinata. 

“You’ve got to get from there, to the door,” Suga explained, “without touching the floor,” he motioned to the fake green lasers they had running across the floor, sweeping for anyone who might be standing around. 

“What do you do?” Suga asked, tilting his head with a smile. 

They all watched as Kageyama looked around before spotting the shelf closest to the door. He smiled, just a bit, and pointed at the shelf. 

Suga gave a nod and held out his hand, motioning for Kageyama to give it a shot. 

The younger man drew a breath and positioned himself to supposedly launch himself off the carts in a backflip and onto the top of the shelf. 

“Ten says he shorts it.” Tanaka brought up as they watched, grinning. 

“Twenty,” Hinata and Tsukishima bet, the latter glaring down at the redhead when he turned and pointed, yelling “Jinx!”

Daichi shushed them just as Kageyama pushed himself off, launching himself into the air in a flawless backflip before he landed perfectly on the top of the shelf with a wide grin. 

“Woah,” Hinata muttered, eyes wide. He could totally do that if he tried, but that was so cool. 

Suga grinned and clapped, everyone else followed with similar looks of wide eyes and small smiles. Everyone but Tsukishima, of course, who just clapped slowly and rolled his eyes. 

“Well, I hope everyone has their bags packed.”

The clapping slowed to a stop as they all turned their heads to the sound of Ennoshita’s voice, the man entering the warehouse, covered in muck and grime from looking around the sewers for the past couple of hours. 

Suga was the first to speak up, everyone else was rather confused by the statement. “What do you mean by that?”

“We have a problem,” he said simply, rubbing his forehead with the back of his head, smearing some muck in the process across it like he was Simba or something. 

“What kind of problem?” Daichi asked as he crossed his arms. 

Ennoshita threw up his hands and sat down on one of the trunks in the room, shaking his head. “A big one, potentially.” He looked up at them and frowned, specifically at Ukai and Takeda. 

“Those idiots, when they blew up the casino, they ruined everything power-wise.” 

Ukai scoffed, “Tell me about it.” 

“Hold on,” Daichi held out a hand, “what do you mean ‘power-wise’?”

“That crew? The one that blew up the casino?” Ennoshita started, rubbing the back of his neck, “Those idiots went and blew up the backup grids one by one, like dominos!” 

“...and that’s bad..?” Hinata spoke up with a frown, looking rather confused. 

Ennoshita looked at Hinata now before he gave a nod and a huff, “Yeah, it’s bad.”

“Ennoshita,” Daichi spoke up, “what happened?” He wanted to hear exactly what was going on, what their problem was, and if they could fix it before the heist was scheduled to go in two days. Maybe it was an easy fix, something not to worry about. But if it wasn’t? That was a problem. 

Their demolitions guy frowned, turning his attention back to Daichi and Suga who were looking at him with slight concern. “They did the same thing I would’ve done, but they did it on accident,” he started to explain, “but the problem is that now they know their weakness and so they’re fixing it.”

“Meaning,” Narita started before Nishinoya could ask, “if we tried to blow the backup grids like intended to knock out the power at the Nekoma, it won’t work. They’ll have it fixed so that something like that won’t happen.” 

“Thank you!” Ennoshita nodded, motioning to Narita, who nodded with a small, helpful smile. 

“So…?” Daichi tried, slowly turning from Narita to Ennoshita. 

Ennoshita narrowed his eyes a little, “So unless we intend to do the job with a power outage we’re in nayaouble!”

In his upset state, Ennoshita started to get his words mixed up, his last bit a mix of Japanese and English, making everyone raise their eyebrows in confusion. 

“Nayaouble?” Ennoshita tried. He groaned and shook his head, “Trouble!” 

“Huh,” Daichi muttered, he leaned back into Suga a bit, turning his head, “then maybe we could-”

“By tomorrow?” Suga scoffed. “No.” he shook his head. 

Everyone went silent, the ones with brain cells trying to think about how they could possibly solve this new problem. However, it didn’t take long for Kinoshita to snap his fingers with a grin and a, “Aha!” 

Daichi raised an eyebrow, everyone’s heads turning Kinoshita’s way. “Do you have an idea?”

“Possibly,” he nodded with a grin, “we could use a pinch.”

“A pinch like, like, uh,” Hinata tried, holding up his hand and squeezing his thumb and pointer finger together. 

Tsukishima stifled a laugh with the back of his hand, looking away as Hinata glared at him. 

“No, no,” Kinoshita chuckled, shaking his head, “a pinch is a type of device that creates a cardiac arrest for any kind of broadband electrical circuitry.”

Ennoshita grinned and nodded. “Better yet,” he said, “a pinch is a bomb, but without the bomb.” 

“How can it be a bomb without the bomb?” Asahi asked with a frown, the whole idea sounding rather violent to him. 

Ennoshita shook his head, waving his hand in the air. “No, see, when a nuclear weapon detonates, it releases an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down any power source within its blast radius.” He explained, carefully and slowly too because he knew a few of them were slow to understand. 

“But that tends not to matter in most cases because with a nuclear weapon usually destroys everything you might need power for anyways,” Ennoshita continued, ‘but you see, a pinch creates a similar electromagnetic pulse but without the y’know,” he made a motion with his hand, “the hassle of mass destruction and death…” 

Kinoshita nodded, “So instead of an atomic bomb you’d be getting a blackout.” 

“Chikara is so smart, he knows so many things,” Tanaka muttered, in awe of how well he explained it. Even he had some idea of what they were talking about, and that was saying a lot. 

“Right?” Nishinoya whispered, loud enough that it echoed across the warehouse, “He’s a good teacher!” 

Ennoshita just smiled softly at their comments, shaking his head slightly as he looked down, slightly embarrassed. 

“How long though?” Suga asked, smiling slightly at the previous compliments for their explosion expert. 

Ennoshita licked his lips before answering, “About thirty seconds.” 

“Could a, um, pinch knock out the power of an entire city?” Daichi asked.

“Like Vegas?” Ennoshita questioned. “It might.” He nodded with a half shrug. 

“So, where do we find this pinch?” Ukai asked, “Don’t tell me I have to buy it or anything.”

“Do we have to make it?” Tanaka asked before he pulled up his sleeve and flexed, “Because I’m ready to help!” Besides him, Nishinoya and Hinata nodded furiously. 

Kinoshita laughed a little at their antics, shaking his head. “No, don’t worry about any of that, it won’t be necessary.”

“Why not?” Yamaguchi asked in a quiet voice, his sudden interest taking them all, all but Tsukishima, by surprise as they turned to look at the freckled-faced man. 

“Because there’s only one pinch in the world that’ll be able to pull that off,” Ennoshita explained, standing up. 

“Don’t tell me we have to find this thing,” Daichi groaned, “we’re on a tight schedule.” 

“It’s not that far,” Ennoshita promised, holding his hands out in front of him. 

“Oh yeah?” Suga asked, raising his eyebrow, “where’s it located?”

Ennoshita looked at Kinoshita before turning to their two leaders and answering, 

“California.”

***

“The California Institute of Advanced Science?” Daichi muttered for probably the fifth time that night. 

Suga glared at Daichi from his spot on the bed, sprawled out over the messy covers with his face buried into one of the misplaced pillows. “You’re pacing again,” he pointed out, “and repeating yourself.”

“I know it’s not anything too terrible, it’s close by but so close to the date-”

“Daichi.”

“-we might have to push back the date and risk being found out or having the change the plan entirely, but we can’t h-”

“ _ Daichi _ .”

The man finally stopped, turning to look at Suga with an expression of ‘What’? 

The other sighed and shook his head, “I’m trying to rest and you’re making a commotion, I really don’t need to hear your thoughts right now.” He gave his head a slight rub.

Daichi rolled his eyes slightly, “Don’t read my thoughts then.” 

“Can’t help it,” Suga hummed. 

“But really,” Suga sighed, “stop worrying. You don’t do so well under pressure.”

“I do  _ great  _ under pressure,” Daichi muttered, walking over and sitting down at the end of the bed, making Suga sink into the mattress a little more. 

“You better go with them,” Suga said, looking over at Daichi before he turned on his side, holding up his head with a propped up hand. “I can stay here and make sure things continue to run smoothly.” 

“Why can’t you go?” Daichi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Suga narrowed his eyes. 

“Alright fine,” Daichi sighed, giving in while he rubbed the back of his neck. He dropped his head, “I’ll go.”

“Good,” Suga grinned, “take the drivers, Ennoshita, Kageyama-kun, and Hinata-kun.”

Daichi raised his head and looked over at Suga. “Why Hinata?”

Suga gave a shrug, “You might need his help.”

“And?”

“And I think he and Kageyama have to sort some things out,” Suga added, staring back at Daichi. 

The other blinked and looked away, “Sort things out, huh?”

“Hmm,” Suga nodded with a hum, flopping back down, this time on his back, his eyes on the ceiling. “They need to get along better. Kageyama doesn’t seem to trust him.”

“Not everyone can have a relationship like we do,” Daichi argued, leaning back so he could smile down at Suga. 

Suga grinned, “I never said I trusted you.”

Daichi scoffed, shaking his head with a slight smile as Suga snickered. 

_ ‘Liar _ .’

‘ _ Thief _ .’

“So, we leave tomorrow then?” Daichi asked, subconsciously running a hand up and down Suga’s arm. 

“Bit of a time crunch, huh?” Suga opened one eye to look up at him. 

Daichi nodded, giving a small hum. “Think it’ll be much trouble to push the day of the heist back a day? Maybe to the originally planned day?” He looked down at Suga, his head tilted. 

Suga bit his lip, thinking. Before they found out about Kuroo taking over the casino and Nekomata leaving for vacation or business (maybe both), they had planned to rob the casino on the day of the volleyball match, which was Friday. However, after they found out they had the opportunity to do a slightly easier job during a transition of management, a day before the fight, tomorrow, they changed their plans for the heist. 

Since the problem with the pinch arose, doing it the day Nekomata left would be very stressful. If they wanted to make sure they had everything in place before the heist, then Daichi and the others would have to leave for California right now, and it was already getting pretty late. And even still, that wouldn’t guarantee that they would be ready by five-thirty for the start of the heist. 

However, if they went back to the original day, then they had at least another day to get the pinch and everything together. The only problem was that it also gave Kuroo another day to get situated with his newfound position as head of the Nekoma and Toritsu. Which could prove to be problematic if he ran it any differently than Nekomata. But on the other hand, it might be more devastating for Kuroo to have one normal day on the job and the next day lose just about sixty million dollars. 

“Is that what you think?” Daichi asked, with amusement in his voice as he watched Suga’s expressions as he thought out all the options. 

“Rude of you to listen in to my thoughts,” Suga playfully glared before sitting up slightly, hoisting himself up by the elbows as Daichi moved out of the way to give him room. 

“Let’s do it on game day,” Suga said, turning to look at Daichi, “just to make it easier on you.”

Daichi smiled softly, “My hero.”

“Damn right,” Suga grinned, “better remember that.”

Daichi only chuckled and shrugged, “I’ll try my best.”

“Daichi Sawamura, you better,” Suga threatened, picking up the pillow he was previously resting on and tossing it back to its place by the headboard. 

“I’ll tell everyone about the change in date tomorrow,” Daichi said, purposely ignoring Suga’s threat to smile at his scrunched up face as he glared, “but I’m sure they won’t mind at all.”

“More money?” Suga chuckled, letting his face relax, “they won’t. And it might hurt Kuroo even more. Give him a false sense of security and then snatch it away.” He winked. 

Daichi’s smile faltered a bit and he looked away. “Yeah,” he muttered before clearing his throat, “that’ll show him.”

Suga sighed and shook his head, “Just get some sleep.” He scooted over to the plush pillows and fluffed them out a bit. “You’re going to be on the road with two interesting duos with only Ennoshita to help keep your sanity. You need to rest.” 

“Okay, mom,” Daichi teased, shrugging off his suit coat. 

Suga threw a pillow at him.

***

The next day there were zero complainants about the small change in plans for when they would be pulling off the heist. Nobody seemed to mind going back to the originally planned date, all eager to get as much money out of this as they could, not really concerned about the higher chance of being caught. 

Well, only Asahi and Hinata seemed really concerned about that, everyone else was pretty onboard with the idea. 

But the only complaints really came from Kageyama and Hinata after Daichi announced who was the “Stealing the Pinch” team and who got to stay in Vegas and continue to run the show. 

Hinata didn’t want to go with Kageyama, wanting to instead do something back here in Vegas. Something that didn’t involve trailing people, something exciting and maybe just only slightly risky, but riding in a car with Kageyama was a little too risky for his tastes. 

He only agreed after Suga had a talk with him, saying that maybe they would need Hinata and he could finally prove himself to everyone that he was capable of other things other than some recon man who made a good decoy occasionally. 

That, and Suga reminded Hinata about his job of keeping an eye on Daichi. He knew that Daichi couldn’t go after Kuroo or anything, but he wanted Hinata to report back to him if Daichi ever said anything about Kuroo. 

Kageyama, on the other hand, just didn’t want to be stuck in a van with Hinata for eight hours. They needed him more than they needed Hinata though, so he asked why they couldn’t just leave Hinata behind. It wasn’t until Suga convinced Kageyama that this would be good for them because they needed to bond as a team if they were going to pull this off. 

Reluctantly, but thankfully, the two of them agreed to go steal the pinch together. 

So, the plan carried on. The pinch team would leave a little before the afternoon to make it to California and back to Vegas while the others did the finishing touches to prepare themselves for the heist. 

Now that they had a little more time than before, everyone was a bit more relaxed than they previously were. Even Tsukishima was making less unhelpful, sarcastic comments during their debriefs. It was nice. 

Just a little before twelve, Tanaka and Nishinoya got into the front seats of the van, Tanaka at the wheel. Ennoshita, Daichi, Kageyama, and Hinata all piled into the back of the van. Daichi made sure to sit in between them, not wanting to risk anything. 

“You boys be careful, okay?” Suga said, stepping in front of the open back doors. “Don’t get caught.” He grinned and winked before he closed the doors and gave the back of the van a small pat. 

“What if we do get caught?” Hinata wondered aloud. 

“We won’t.” Daichi assured, looking across at Ennoshita for some reassurance. The other just giving a small smile and a nod, 

“We shouldn’t. Compared to what we’re planning to do tomorrow, this is a walk in the park.” 

Hinata and Kageyama glanced at each other from across Daichi before looking away as Tanaka started up the car, shouting, 

“Let’s get this show on the road!” 

***

Daichi knew that he shouldn’t have been the one sitting between Hinata and Kageyama. Not with his short temper. 

Right off the back, the moment Hinata asked for another bathroom break in the span of thirty minutes into the trip, Kageyama started to cuss in Japanese, shaking his hand at Hinata. Hinata, of course, fired back, getting Tanaka and Nishinoya fired up as well, the both of them glancing back and shouting things as well.Tanaka was mostly telling them to be quiet for Ennoshita and his sake, since he was driving, but nonetheless, it was loud in the van.

Daichi was able to hold it in the first couple of arguments, Ennoshita was of some help, changing the subject whenever an argument broke out or telling them to shush with a glare. 

However, his patience ran out and when the debate whether or not Hinata would make a good greaseman was brought up for the fifth time during the trip.

“I’m pretty small!” Hinata argued, “I could fit in tight places!”

“It’s not just about fitting in small places, dumbass!” Kageyama fired back, “You have to be flexible and able-bodied.” 

Hinata shoved a thumb into his chest, “I’m flexible!” 

“Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?” Nishinoya asked, turning his head. 

“Eyes on the road!” Ennoshita exclaimed. 

“Of course I can!” Hinata argued, folding his arms. 

Kageyama rolled his eyes and shook his head, “You’re short, so touching your toes shouldn’t be so hard.” 

“Why you-!” Hinata exclaimed, reaching over Daichi to grab Kageyama’s arm, the other yelling in protest and leaning back, almost falling out of his seat if it hadn’t been for the seatbelt. 

Ennoshita’s eyes widened and he tried to stop the fighting, reaching out but being stopped short by his seatbelt. 

“Guys!” Tanaka exclaimed in alarm, turning around as Nishinoya glanced back and yelled as well. 

Daichi wasn’t sure what he yelled, but he knew he yelled. Because right after that the van was quiet, everyone’s eyes were wide, and their backs straight. Not to mention, Daichi’s ears were ringing. 

The rest of the trip was quiet all the way to California. 

***

It was about five when they arrived, their first stop at the little, shady motel that they were planning to stay at for the night so they’d be well rested for the next day, Game Day. 

They checked in with fake IDs, Nishinoya and Tanaka sharing a room, Daichi and Ennoshita, and Hinata and Kageyama (though they weren’t very happy with it). Daichi said they didn’t have to share a bed or anything, since there would be two, but they still weren’t happy about it. 

After settling down at the hotel, putting their overnight bags away and taking quick showers and naps, they got back into the van and picked up a quick dinner first and ate it in silence in the van. Meanwhile, Tanaka then drove them into the Institution and they parked, hiding behind the building next to similar looking vans. 

They would have a stake out until it got dark enough for them to sneak into the institution building, Tanaka and Nishinoya talking quietly amongst themselves, playing I-spy while Hinata peered out the window, his head just peeking out from the bottom. Kageyama had fallen asleep and Ennoshita and Daichi were having a small conversation to pass the time. 

Two hours later, it was dark enough for them to have some cover. Tanaka started the van again and they drove to the front of the building that housed the pinch, the back of the van facing the front of the building. 

Daichi checked his watch and looked up at the rest of them before nodding, “Alright, let’s go.” 

It was a quick, little heist, so they didn’t need much. Ennoshita had the technology that they needed, Kageyama took off his sweater, his leotard underneath it, and Daichi handed out masks and gloves to both Ennoshita and Kageyama before slipping his own on. 

“Wait what about me?” Hinata asked in a hushed whisper as Kageyama and Ennoshita opened the back door and climbed out of the van. 

Daichi stopped Hinata from coming out as he stepped outside the back of the van. “No, you stay,” he told him in a stern voice. 

“What?!” Hinata exclaimed, “That’s not fair! Don’t leave me with Tanaka and Nishinoya! I wanna come too!”

Daichi shook his head and gently pushed Hinata back before closing the door with the last command of, “Stay!” like Hinata was some hyperactive dog. 

Hinata groaned and banged his head on the van. Why did he come if Daichi wasn’t going to let him be a part of actually stealing the pinch?? He was sure he could help in some way! It didn’t matter if he hadn’t done any big jobs before this, he knew he was pretty capable and responsible! 

Hinata pouted and watched as the three others walked over to the door, Ennoshita putting something to the code before the door opened and the three of them slipped in, the door closing behind them.

***

“Why didn’t you take Hinata?” Ennoshita asked once they were inside, glancing around at the different stairways around them. 

“Don’t want to risk it,” Daichi responded simply, waving a hand in the air. He did have faith in Hinata, he really did, but this job had to be quick since the actual job was dependent on whether or not they got this pinch. Bringing Hinata along was too risky. They only brought him so that he and Kageyama would stop fighting and that went just  _ swell _ .

Daichi spotted a camera and narrowed his eyes. They had to be quick since they didn’t plan on taking out any security systems like cameras since it was supposed to be a quick job. Sooner or later, more like sooner, the institution was bound to send over some security guards. 

He then motioned Kageyama and Ennoshita to follow him quickly up the stairs and into the different labs where Kinoshita had said the pinch would be waiting for them. 

Thankfully, there wasn’t much security that they had to avoid and soon they were looking at the pinch that was sitting inside a glass casing with some cheap security laser system. 

It didn’t take much time for Kageyama to acrobat his way over the lasers and onto the glass, nodding as Ennoshita tossed him a device that he placed on the wall that shut down the laser system. 

Ennoshita rolled over a dolly as Kageyama climbed off of it, the older men lifting the pinch up and placing it on top of the dolly as Kageyama was the lookout. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Daichi muttered, rolling the dolly towards the elevator, Ennoshita and Kageyama not far behind. 

That was easy. 

Almost too easy.

***

Hinata folded his arms and slid down the side of the van’s back door in despair. He was pretty sure Tanaka and Nishinoya didn’t even know he was there, the two of them already striking up a conversation that sounded a lot like some kind of game. 

“Okay, I got one,” Tanaka started, his hands behind his head and feet up on the dashboard. 

Nishinoya was busy picking at something on his shirt, some crumbs from their fast food dinner. “Are you going to think of one?” He asked, not bothering to look up at him.

“No,” Tanaka shook his head and glanced over at him, “I already thought of one, I’m not going to think about one-”

“Alright, so you’re thinking about it right now,” Nishinoya nodded, bringing his shirt up to his nose to smell the stain before making a face and looking at Tanaka. 

The other shook his head again, “No, I’m done thinking about it! I thought about it already, they’re in my head.” He tapped at his brain a few times before scooting further back into the chair, getting comfortable. 

“Are you male?” Nishinoya asked. 

“No.”

“Kiyoko-san.”

“Damn!” 

Hinata sighed and put his head in his hands, slightly tugging on his hair. Why didn’t they let him come? He could’ve been a good decoy if they needed it! Even if he didn’t like being a decoy, he could’ve done it!

Hinata sat like this for the next fifteen minutes, Nishinoya and Tanaka going back and forth with their little game as he sat silently, staring into the floor of the van, eye twitching. He wondered how things were going inside since it had been a while. Maybe they would need his help. Yeah! Maybe they needed his help!

But what if he made things worse? 

Hinata groaned and threw his head back before hissing and rubbing the back of his head, having forgotten there was a car door behind him. 

It was possible they did need his help, and it was possible that they didn’t. Hinata figured he’d give them five more minutes until he would go out there and see if they did need any help.

For now, he was just going to listen to Tanaka and Nishinoya mess around. 

“Stop touching me,” Tanaka complained, swatting Nishinoya’s hand out of his face. 

“I’m not touching you,” Nishinoya argued, grinning. 

“Get your hand out of my face,” Tanaka muttered, swatting it again. 

“My hand’s not in your face,” Nishinoya chuckled, it now hovering around his shoulder. 

“Your hand is right in my face.” 

“I’m not touching you, am I touching you?”

“Your hand is right in my face.”

“No, it’s not. I’m not touching you.”

“You just did! You poked me!” 

“I didn’t do that, you made me do that!” 

“Get your hand away from me!” 

“It’s not near you!” 

“Look, this is my side, that’s your side, keep your hand-”

“Why is your side bigger?”

“I’m taller!” 

“You -”

“Don’t touch me!” 

Hinata clenched his fists in frustration and thought, screw it. He turned around and opened the door, fumbling only a bit and almost tripping as he hurried over to the entrance of the building the other three entered a couple minutes ago.

As Hinata slipped into the building, three figures pushing a large canister with green goo and wires in it exited the building and headed to the van. 

Ennoshita opened up the back door and Kageyama and Daichi quickly loaded the pinch into the back of the van before they all quickly climbed in, Kageyama closing the door behind them. 

The moment the door closed, Tanaka started up the car and they started to drive away, Ennoshita already talking about the next steps. 

“Okay, so I’m going to need a few things to make this bad thing work. We could get them tomorrow or we could-”

“Where’s Hinata?” Daichi finally spoke up, some sixth sense kicking in before he looked around and saw that Hinata was indeed missing. 

“What?” Ennoshita asked, looking at him. 

“Where’s Hinata?” Daichi repeated, this time sounding more angry and alarmed than confused like the first time. 

Tanaka stopped the car and looked behind them with a frown, Nishinoya doing the same. 

Kageyama blinked a few times, also looking around before he groaned and muttered, “Dumbass” under his breath as he face-palmed. 

“Oh god,” Ennoshita muttered as Tanaka quickly shifted gears and drove backwards from where they came. 

He stopped right a few ways away from where they had originally parked and Ennoshita slid open the van door, all five of them poking their heads out the door as they tried to look around for any sign of bright, red hair. 

“There he is!” Daichi pointed, spotting a figure dart across one of the windows, the lights now on in the building. 

“What is he doing?” Ennoshita asked. 

“Boke, Hinata, boke!” Kageyama slightly shouted, as if Hinata was supposed to hear him from where he was. 

“Should we help him?” Nishinoya asked, glancing at Daichi. 

“And all get caught?” Ennoshita exclaimed, looking over at Nishinoya. 

Daichi didn’t answer though, watching as HInata came up to one of the windows above the parking covering before he threw something at it, shattering the window. 

“Back it up,” Daichi announced, reaching out and sliding the door closed again. 

Tanaka turned around and expertly drove backwards to the end of the parking awning, the one Hinata was currently walking on top of, hands out for balance, as two night guards followed in pursuit. 

Once under, and Hinata close enough, the young man jumped from the awning to the top of the van, landing with a thud! 

“Let him in!” Daichi commanded, motioning to the back door. 

Ennoshita opened it, but nobody came in. 

Instead, they heard more thuds on the top of the van and then someone sliding down the windshield and then hood before falling with another thud! 

Hinata quickly got up and ran along the side of the van as Tanaka already started to drive forward again, the night guards now really close to the van. 

The back doors of the van flew open as Hinata ran after the car, Ennoshita hanging out with his arm outstretched as Hinata desperately tried to grab it. 

“Come on!” Daichi shouted before Hinata managed to grab Ennoshita’s hand, the other pulling him into the van as they drove out of the building’s parking lot. 

“You dumbass!” Kageyama shouted when Hinata entered the van, his hair messier than normal and his eyes wide as he tried to catch his breath. 

Daichi waved a hand at Kageyama, telling him to stop and close the door so he could lecture Hinata instead. 

Kageyama huffed and turned to close the door, but when he did so, Tanaka made a turn and the door swung violently, right on Kageyama’s fingers. 

The young man let out a cry of pain as he pulled his hand back inside the van, holding his wrist as his fingers went red and started to swell. 

“Jesus!” Ennoshita’s eyes widened and he quickly closed the doors, before going over to Kageyama to look over his hand, looking genuinely concerned. 

Meanwhile, Daichi was lecturing Hinata, the other sitting with his arms folded, a small pout on his face and his eyes glued to his shoes. 

“If I say stay in the van, I mean stay in the van!” Daichi shouted, pointing a finger at Hinata. “You got it?”

“I got it,” Hinata muttered. 

“You lose focus in this game for one second-”

“I said I got it!” 

“-somebody gets hurt!”

“I got it.” Hinata said, glaring at Daichi before he turned his head, sniffing softly. 

Daichi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He really hoped he didn’t have more grey hairs sprouting because of this. He really didn’t need that right now. 

He turned and looked at the other two. Kageyama’s face was red, almost as red as his fingers, and Ennoshita was looking back at Daichi with a frown as he held Kageyama’s hand up. 

Daichi groaned and put his head in his hands. 

It was a very quiet trip back to the motel.

***

Once they were there, everyone got out of the van rather quickly, Hinata being the first one to unbuckle his seat belt and jump out of the van without a word. 

Daichi glanced over at Ennoshita who only frowned back before shaking his head and helping Kageyama out of the van. 

Tanaka got up and stretched, frowning as Hinata left to his room rather quickly, glancing at Nishinoya who was also frowning. They didn’t do much though, saying their good nights and heading to their room to pass out, tired of all the driving they did and were going to do. 

“Think we should switch rooms?” Ennoshita asked Daichi, locking up the van, making sure the pinch was concealed with a large, black tarp. 

Daichi nodded, “I was going to suggest that. I’ll bring Kageyama’s stuff to the room and you just watch after him.” He knew Ennoshita would be able to help if Kageyama broke his fingers or something, hopefully they were just swollen, since the man had studied medicine before giving that up to make explosives and rob banks. It was quite the change in majors. 

Ennoshita nodded, humming in response before he turned to Kageyama and told him about the switch of roommates, the other not arguing at all against it. 

They said their goodnights to Daichi and headed to the room, leaving Daichi in the parking lot, the neon sign flickering on his face. 

He let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair before going to his new room to pick up Kageyama’s overnight bag. When he entered the room, Hinata was already in bed, seemingly asleep, his back turned to Daichi, rising and falling slowly. 

Daichi frowned, carefully and quietly walking around the room, looking for Kageyama’s bag. He spotted it on the corner chair and picked it up before delivering it to Ennoshita who traded Daichi the bag for Daichi’s own. 

Kageyama was sitting on the bed, a bag of ice already resting on his fingers as he glared down at his hand. 

Daichi said goodnight and headed back to his new room, entering quietly and closing the door just as quietly. It only creaked a bit before he locked it. 

Too tired to shower, Daichi just changed quickly and fell onto the bed backwards, sprawled up and staring at the ceiling. A lot could’ve gone wrong tonight with Hinata’s little stunt, they could’ve all gotten caught for one, which would’ve been the worst case scenario. 

Instead, their greaseman had crushed fingers and Daichi was sure his and Suga’s idea to get Hinata and Kageyama get along together better pretty much backfired. 

He groaned and put a hand over his eyes, closing them as he debated whether or not to pick up the phone and call Suga to tell him what happened. 

After a few minutes, Daichi decided against it, it was late, and in Vegas it was an hour later. He also didn’t feel like explaining what just happened to Suga in fear of what Suga would say. He would probably lecture him for not letting Hinata participate in stealing the pinch or for yelling at them.

He opened his eyes and turned his head towards Hinata, if he wasn’t sleeping before, he was now, his figure rising and falling slowly in small huffs. Daichi frowned a little, he’d apologize later, knowing he likely upset Hinata, even though Hinata upset him by not following his orders. 

God, this was so complicated. 

The sooner they robbed the Nekoma, the better, Daichi thought with a yawn. 

Good thing that was happening tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to @RuneOak for beta reading this chapter! I promise one more chapter setting up the heist and then we can get into the good stuff! Thank you all for being so patient and nice! Your comments and support keep me going!


	6. A Change in Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the unfortunate events of the mini pinch heist, the group is finally back together and scheduled to pull of the heist in just a few hours. However, of course a new problem arises and the team is quick to make changes.

At eight in the morning, the Stealing the Pinch group was already up and ready to drive back to Vegas. They had last minute showers and then piled back into the van, all of them still rather quiet because of the previous night’s events. 

Only Tanaka and Nishinoya really tried for a conversation, but they didn’t get anything in response from the others other than a nervous chuckle from Ennoshita, so they just kept their conversations between the two of them. 

Nishinoya drove them to a fast food place. They ordered breakfast in the drive-through and they were soon on their way, hoping this time around they wouldn’t have to deal with too many problems.

***

“Where the hell are they?” Ukai asked, nervously walking back and forth in Asahi’s reserved hotel room. 

It was sometime in the afternoon, only a few hours before the heist itself was supposed to kick off and they hadn’t had any sign or confirmation that the van was on its way back to Vegas with the pinch. 

Ukai and Takeda had headed over to the hotel to check on things to make sure something hadn’t come up. 

Asahi was there, of course, since it was his hotel room. Well, it was actually Arthur Fredrick’s room, but he and Asahi were the same person, so really it was everyone’s room. 

Because it was a suite room, it was much bigger and fancier than the other rooms that they were all staying at. Kinoshita and Narita had brought up all their equipment to Asahi’s room since there was a large table that they could put everything on. The two of them were sitting at the table currently, looking over the monitors and making sure everything was good to go for the night. 

Along with them, Suga sat at the bar counter, his leg slightly bouncing in worry as he stress-ate a cup of ice cream he got from the buffet downstairs. He didn’t think that Daichi and the others would get caught. It should be an easy quick job. But then again, he couldn’t be too sure. He just had to hope for the best. 

Takeda and Asahi sat on the couch, Asahi watching TV while Takeda and he chatted, the latter trying to get into character for the night since he would have to play a part. All the while Ukai paced behind them.

“That’s what I want to know!” Ukai shouted, “Where the hell are they??”

“Don’t worry, Ukai,” Takeda said, turning his head to look at his partner pacing back and forth with a stern look on his face as he smoked to try to destress, “they’ll be here soon.”

“How can you be so sure?” Ukai asked, stopping to look at him. 

Takeda frowned a little before shrugging slightly. He pushed up his glasses and stammered, “W-well, I’m sure that they should be fine. They’re pro-professionals aren’t they?”

Ukai sighed in defeat and rubbed his temples, closing his eyes and muttering under his breath. 

“They’re pulling up!” Narita suddenly exclaimed, looking up from the monitor. One of the cameras showed an unmarked white van pulling up into the front of the casino, undoubtedly them.

Suga grabbed his coat, and his ice-cream, and was out of the room in an instant, heading down as quick as he could to greet them. One could say that he was rather relieved, all the tension and stress leaving his body the moment Narita announced their arrival. 

Once on the casino floor, Suga went over to the entrance doors, licking away at his ice cream spoon as he saw the van pull up and Daichi hop out of the car, Hinata following after him almost reluctantly. 

From their tired faces and tense expressions, Suga could predict that something might’ve happened between the two. But he didn’t worry much, it seemed that they got the pinch, the van driving off in the direction of the warehouse. He knew that if they had the pinch, the plan was to get it situated at the warehouse, so it seemed that things had gone well. He just wasn’t sure why Kageyama didn’t come out with them. He hoped he was okay. 

Unknown to Suga, Tanaka and Nishinoya were going to drop the pinch off at the warehouse and then drive Ennoshita and Kageyama to a hospital to make sure Kageyama didn’t break his fingers or anything before they headed back to the warehouse to load and fix up the pinch into the van. Hopefully, nothing was broken.

Suga went to greet them, but Daichi and Hinata walked right past him to the elevator. The only acknowledgement he got from his comrades was a sideways glance from Hinata and a gruff, “Hi” from Daichi. 

He bit the insides of his cheeks, tossing his ice-cream cup aside into a trash can before he followed them into the elevator, both of them on either side of the elevator, arms folded and faces looking the opposite direction of the other. 

Suga pushed the button for their level before situating himself between them, glancing back and forth with a look of concern for Hinata but one of amusement for Daichi since he looked like a pouty child instead of a grown-ass man.

The doors dinged closed and the elevator pulled them up the floors in a steady silence. 

“You boys have a nice trip?” Suga asked to break the silence. 

He didn’t get an answer. 

No one talked for the forty flights up to Asahi’s hotel room level, the only noise coming from outside the elevator and Suga tapping the tune of some pop song on his legs until the elevator stopped and dinged open. 

Suga was the first to step out, the other two quietly following all the way to Asahi’s door but before they could open it, Kinoshita was already there, a worried look on his face, 

“We have a problem.” 

He stepped inside and motioned them to hurry inside, the three of them looking at each other in confusion before they all stepped inside, Kinoshita sticking his head out the door and looking down the hallways before closing the door behind them.

“You’ve been red-flagged,” Narita said, looking at Daichi as the four of them entered into the large room the rest of them were in. Takeda and Asahi on the couch, the tv still on, Ukai standing behind them and Narita at the monitors on the table. “Kiyoko-san just sent us the notification.”

Daichi pointed at himself in confusion. “Me?” He asked. Narita then nodded in conformation. “I’ve been what?” 

“It means the moment you set foot in that casino,” Kinoshita spoke up from behind Daichi, motioning to the door that they came from,”they’ll be watching you.”

Narita nodded, “Like hawks.”

“Hawks with video cameras,” Kinoshita added. 

Daichi frowned and walked over to where Narita was, leaning down to see his screen. Sure enough, there was a notification with Daichi’s face on it sent out to all security personnel and staff members of the Nekoma from Kuroo, warning them that they are to report to Kuroo the moment they see him. 

He bit the insides of his cheeks and looked up to the rest of them. “That’s a problem…”

It was silent, aside from the sounds of shooting coming from Asahi’s old school mafia movie. 

Suga closed his eyes slowly, letting out a breath. “Asahi, turn that off please.”

“I’ll turn it off when I want to turn it off.” Asahi responded, already in character with his New York mafia accent. 

“Asahi!” Suga snapped, opening his eyes. 

Asahi’s eyes widened and he frantically reached out for the remote, scrambling to turn it off. “It’s off! It’s off!” He said, finally getting the tv to turn off, his accent fading.

Suga gave Asahi a strained smile as a thanks before walking over to Daichi, standing a few feet away from him, leaning against the bar-top counter. “Any idea how this happened?” He asked, folding his arms over his chest. 

Daichi was silent, Suga could see the gears turning and then come to a conclusion, but Daichi shook his head, lying, “No…”

“Oh come on!” Hinata spoke up, making everyone’s heads turn to the youngest in the room. 

He still looked rather upset by whatever had happened on the trip, but now he looked more annoyed with Daichi than hurt, his hands in his hoodie pocket, and a small pout on his face. 

“It’s because he’s chasing after Kuroo and following his guy!” Hinata continued, avoiding Daichi’s intense stare, and instead, he looked at Suga and the others. “He approached them during their date a few nights ago!” 

He cast a split-second glance at Daichi before quickly looking away. “I was tailing you…” He muttered, relieved that he finally was able to tell him that, though he was scared of how Daichi would react after everything that just happened. 

Daichi only narrowed his eyes, “Who told you to do that?”

“I did,” Suga responded immediately, raising his hand. All the attention was off of Hinata and onto Suga now, the redhead let out a small sigh and his shoulders dropped, some tension leaving his body.

Daichi looked at Suga with disbelief, while the other looked rather unapologetic. 

“I was concerned you couldn’t leave Kuroo alone,” he said simply, letting his head tilt as he mocked a small pout. 

“Kuroo?” Ukai asked, looking between the two. 

“My husband,” Daichi answered, breaking his gaze with Suga for just a second to turn his head towards Ukai. 

“Ex-husband,” Suga clarified right away, his eyes not leaving Daichi.

Daichi looked back at Suga and narrowed his eyes a bit. 

“Kuroo, the manager?” Ukai muttered, looking over at Takeda who’s eyes were wide. The other shook his head and shrugged. They knew of Kuroo since they were all in the casino business, but the fact that he was married to Daichi at one point? Ukai and Takeda then realized that it was a revenge job for them as much as it was for Daichi. What were the odds?

“I’m sorry,” Suga said, holding his hands in surrender before letting them drop to his sides, “I didn’t know if it would sting you, but it did. You’re out Daichi.”

“He’s out??” Ukai exclaimed, looking between the two frantically, motioning to Daichi with one grand sweeping motion of his hand. 

Asahi swallowed, glancing between his two friends as they stared each other down.

“It’s either that or we call the whole thing off,” Suga stated, slowly moving his gaze to the rest of the group. “His involvement,” he pointed at Daichi, “puts us all at risk.”

“This is not your call,” Daichi spoke, quietly and cautiously. It was evident by his tone, stance, and expression that he knew he’d done wrong. That he messed up. But he wasn’t admitting it, he wasn’t going to. That was just how Daichi was. 

Suga shook his head and waved his finger at Daichi, “Oh no, you made it my call.” He pushed himself off the counter and walked over to where everyone else but Narita and Daichi were, since the two were across the room at the computers. 

“The moment you put all of us at risk to present yourself to Kuroo,” Suga continued, motioning to everyone when he said ‘us’. He looked back at Daichi with a frown, looking hurt rather than upset, “You made it mine.”

Daichi shook his head, “This is my job!” he hammered his fist into an upright palm, his voice only raising a little as he looked at the rest of them. 

It was silent, no one said anything until Suga shook his head and muttered, “Not anymore…”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Ukai fussed, waving his hands in the air, “he can’t just be ‘out’!” He motioned to Daichi again who was now looking away from the group. “Who’s going to trigger the vault?” He asked.

Suga’s head perked up and he turned around to look at Hinata, who was watching Daichi rather sadly, chewing on his cheeks like this was somehow all his fault because he listened to Suga and trailed him. 

“Hinata-kun,” Suga called, snapping the younger man out of his thoughts, “you up for it?”

Hinata blinked, suddenly everyone’s attention was back on him. He stammered a bit, opening and closing his mouth as he took out one hand from his hoodie pocket to point at himself, “M-me?”

Suga nodded. 

Hinata glanced at everyone, meeting Daichi’s eyes last before he looked at Suga and gave a small nod. “I-i’ll do it.”

“Done.” Suga grinned. He looked away from Hinata and to Narita, “Locate the others and tell them the change in plan. Reassure Kageyama that everything will be alright.” 

Narita nodded and got to work. 

Daichi groaned and rubbed his face, muttering under his breath as he turned around, his back facing everyone. 

Suga cast a glance at Daichi, frowning just slightly before he turned to the rest of them, snapping. “Curtain goes up at five!” He reminded, heading towards the door, “Don’t forget!” 

He motioned to Hinata, wanting to have a talk with him, to follow him out of the door. The pick-pocketer followed, glancing behind his shoulder at Daichi, who was now watching them before he hurried out of the room with Suga. 

Ukai sighed and sat down next to Takeda, rubbing his forehead as the other rubbed his shoulder for some reassurance and comfort. Despite this slip-up, Takeda had faith that they would be able to carry this through. 

“You were with Kuroo?” Ukai asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned his head to Daichi, Takeda following his gaze to the younger man as well. 

Daichi only gave a nod, looking rather pained. 

“He’s too tall for you,” Ukai muttered, shaking his head with his eyes narrowed. 

Takeda smacked his shoulder. 

***

“Alright, so you want to tell me what happened during the trip?” Suga asked as he and Hinata entered a taxi. 

Hinata frowned, glancing over at Suga before he climbed into the car. “Not really,” he admitted before he buckled himself in. 

Suga raised an eyebrow, doing the same before he gave the driver directions to the warehouse, giving him a few extra to keep the location on the down-low in addition to the fee. 

“I didn’t ruin your and Daichi’s relationship, did I?” Hinata blurted out as the car started. 

Suga responded with a snort, resting his elbow on the door handle of the taxi as he held up his head with his hand, it tilted slightly as he looked out the window. “It would take a lot more than that to ruin our relationship,” he reassured, watching the casinos pass by as they drove down The Strip. 

When Hinata didn’t say anything, Suga turned to look at him, sighing. “Look, Hinata-kun, I’ve known Daichi for years. How long? You don’t need to know,” he waved his hand at him, “It’ll make me feel old.” He gave him a small smile before turning back to the window. 

“But I know how badly Daichi wanted to do this,” Hinata muttered, looking down at his hands, “I mean, he came up with the idea and everything.”

“Revenge jobs are complicated,” Suga sighed, “Daichi knew what he was doing by creeping around Kuroo these past few days. It’s his fault he won’t be able to take part in the heist, not yours.”

Hinata chewed on the insides of his cheeks, tugging on his sleeves, “Yeah, but-”

“But nothing,” Suga interrupted, turning to look at Hinata with a stern glare. “Daichi’s a grown man, he should take care of his problems better.” Suga folded his arms and leaned back into the taxi seat. 

“You’re not going to quit the job, are you?” Hinata exclaimed, eyes widening in alarm as he looked over at Suga. 

The other man let out a short laugh, slapping his knee. “And leave you all by yourselves? Oh please!” he grinned, “I know I told Daichi I would walk out of the job if he kept going back to Kuroo but this job is way too big to pass up. I hadn’t done a job in those five years that Daichi was in jail and I was getting restless.” He glanced at Hinata, smiling softly, “If we do this and pull it off then I should be good for a few months, or a year at best.”

Hinata recalled something Asahi had told him during one of their conversations, that Suga and Daichi met through Ukai Senior when they were teenagers and hadn’t separated since. He wondered how Suga could put up with Daichi. 

“Do you really not do jobs if Daichi doesn’t do them with you?” Hinata asked, a bit hesitant. 

Suga shook his head, twirling his finger in the air. “Other way around, Hinata-kun, he doesn’t do jobs without me.” he grinned, a twinkle in his eyes. Hinata wasn’t sure if it was amusement or mischief. Probably both.

“Huh…” Hinata muttered. 

Suga was silent for a bit, thinking quietly to himself. Yeah, he was pretty pissed at Daichi since the man still thought he could lie to Suga and get away with it. But he wasn’t going to be very mad for long. He just needed an apology and maybe a little something else to make up for it. 

“You going to tell me what happened with the pinch now?” Suga asked, turning his head to look at Hinata. 

Hinata’s ears went red and the driver pulled up to the warehouse. Hinata glanced at Suga before unbuckling and getting out of the car. 

Suga raised an eyebrow, but did the same, thanking the driver before closing the door and following Hinata inside. “That bad huh?”

“I-i’ll just let Ennoshita explain..”

***

“Do you think this suit brings out my eyes?”

“No.”

“Kenma, you’re not even looking.”

Kuroo was standing in front of a mirror in the room that he and Kenma shared that was gifted to them from Nekomata after they received their current positions five years ago. It was basically another hotel room in the casino, but it was much bigger than the other rooms and had a lot of different appliances housed inside like a full working kitchen and a large master bathroom. 

Kuroo was holding up two different suits to his body, frowning and trying to see which one he looked better in. Either the black and red one or the red and black one. He wasn’t sure, he turned around, trying to get Kenma’s attention. 

“Which one?” He asked, holding them both up.

Kenma didn’t say anything. The younger man was sitting on the bed, legs folded, his eyes glued to his phone as he tapped away on it, no doubt playing some game. He had already dressed, wearing a simple black suit with a red bow tie, his hair pulled back into a ponytail. 

“Kenma,” Kuroo tried again. 

The man just hummed, casting a short glance up before muttering, “Red and black. Don’t want you matching me.” 

Kuroo pouted, turning back around to see how the red and black one looked. “You don’t want to match? But we could look so cute.” 

Kenma made a snorting sound, making Kuroo whip his head around to glare a bit. 

“Did you match with Daichi sometimes?” Kenma asked. His voice was quiet, no hints of jealousy, teasing, or anything of the sort. Just a blunt remark from the quiet game manager of the casino. 

“Are you jealous?” Kuroo asked, ignoring the question as he headed to the closet to hang up the black and red tuxedo, setting the other on the bed next to Kenma. 

Kenma looked down at the suit for a few seconds before going back to his game. “I’m not jealous,” he said, no hints of lying in his voice, “just wondering...:”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about him,” Kuroo assured, “I red-flagged him. The moment he steps into the casino, I’ll know.” He sat down next to Kenma, glancing at his game before looking at him and smiling softly. He knew having Daichi follow them around for these past couple of days made Kenma uneasy, so if he tried anything, he’d be back in jail again. 

Of course, Kuroo felt some remorse and guilt from tricking Daichi and having him be arrested and sent to jail those five years ago. Seeing Daichi again for the first time in years a few nights ago really sent a punch to the gut for Kuroo. 

But his bitterness outweighed his guilt. 

Daichi had done nothing but lie to him all the years that they were together, Kuroo couldn’t live like that, especially when he was aiming to be some important businessman. Usually having a criminal as a husband wasn’t a good look, and he didn’t want it on his record, so he got rid of him. Had him arrested, divorced him, and moved on. 

He didn’t think Daichi would be back. 

“Are you ready for tonight?” Kuroo asked Kenma, tilting his head to try and get the other to look at him. 

Kenma shrugged, “Video games are a lot more fun than actual games.”

“Psh,” Kuroo chuckled, “it’s a volleyball match. I can guarantee that it’s a lot more intense than whatever game you’re playing.”

Kenma looked up at Kuroo and glared slightly, “Don’t you have to change and then check up on things with Kai?”

“In a moment,” Kuroo waved his hand, “I’m looking at something really beautiful here.” He smiled. 

Kenma rolled his eyes and looked back at his game, but Kuroo grinned proudly at the red blush on Kenma’s ears and cheeks. 

He grabbed the suit and scooted off the bed, heading to the shower with a hum. 

He wouldn’t let Daichi ruin his moment. 

***

“Let me get this straight,” Suga held up his hands, looking at Hinata, Ennoshita, and Kageyama, “Daichi told you to stay and you didn’t. Which resulted in you almost getting caught and then Kageyama’s fingers getting crushed by the door?”

“Uh,” Hinata muttered, “yes..?” 

Suga shook his head and facepalmed, Daichi and Hinata were a lot more alike than he previously thought. Both ambitious headstrong guys looking to prove themselves. Yikes.

“But Kageyama is good to go,” Ennoshita reassured, “the doctor said his fingers weren’t broken. We’re alright.” 

“It still hurts,” Kageyama muttered. 

“Well maybe you shouldn’t do it then,” Hinata childishly said back, though the comment wasn’t directed towards him. 

“Then who’s going to explode the vault from the inside, dumbass?” Kageyama shot back, glaring as he held the hand with the swollen fingers with his other hand by the wrist. 

“Okay, okay,” Suga held up his hands and pushed the two away from each other. “ No need to fight.” He turned to the dark-haired man,” Kageyama-kun, you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Yeah,” Kageyama muttered, looking away from Suga. 

“Good,” he nodded, giving his shoulder a squeeze. Suga bit his lip and removed his hand, “But, uh, I also have some bad news of my own…”

Ennoshita and Kageyama both raised an eyebrow and looked at Suga. 

“More bad news?” Ennoshita asked, looking rather tired all of a sudden. 

Suga gave a reluctant nod before dropping the news. “Daichi’s out of the game.” 

“Daichi’s-” Ennoshita’s eyes widened and he shook his head, “He’s  _ what _ ??”

“Kuroo red-flagged him” Suga explained with a sigh, “if he sets foot in the casino, he puts us all at risk.”

“That-”

“I know,”

“ _ Idiot _ !”

“I know!” 

Ennoshita looked at Suga in disbelief while Kageyama looked back and forth between them in slight confusion. 

“Wait,” Kageyama said, bringing the attention to himself now, “does Daichi being out of the game mean that Hinata will have to trigger the vault?”

“And what if it does?” Hinata asked, eyeing Kageyama with his hands on his hips. 

Kageyama turned and glared at him, holding up his bandaged hand. “You crushed my fingers! And if it’s you triggering the vault then you might just kill me!” 

“I’m not going to kill you!” Hinata argued, looking offended. “I can do this!” He insisted. 

Kageyama looked at Suga for help.

“He can do this,” he assured with a smile, “he’s the only one who can, at least. Everyone else already has their jobs.”

Kageyama huffed and folded his arms. He muttered a few things under his breath before he looked over at Hinata. “Fine.” He finally said, “but don’t kill me, dumbass.”

Hinata grinned widely, fist-pumping into the air in delight. 

Suga chuckled and Ennoshita shook his head, letting out a sigh of relief, glad that was taken care of. 

“What’s this I hear?” came the very familiar voice of Tsukishima behind the four, “Hinata’s actually doing something for once?”

Hinata spun around and glared, “I  _ have  _ been doing things!”

Yamaguchi poked his head out from behind Tsukishima before stepping out and standing next to the blonde. 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes at Hinata’s comment, shifting the strap of his bag. “I meant other than trailing old men and ex-husbands.” He snarked. 

Hinata glared at the remark, but Suga blinked and stepped forward, shaking his head, 

“Hold on, how did you know about that?” 

Suga recalled only telling Hinata to trail Daichi, nobody else had known up until Hinata announced it at the hotel room a few minutes ago. That and only Suga and a few others knew that Kuroo was Daichi’s ex-husband. Unless Ikejiri told them? That was possible… 

Suga waited for an answer, an eyebrow raised. 

But Tsukishima only smirked, pushing up his glasses with a look that said he wasn’t telling. But before Suga could say something about that, Yamaguchi spoke up. 

“We’ve seen Hinata around on the casino game floor,” he explained, glancing over at Hinata, “and Ikejiri-san warned us that this could be a revenge job, a job inside a job.” 

“Shut up Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry Tsuki,” Yamaguchi quickly responded, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous giggle. 

Tsukishima sighed and shook his head while Suga grinned, happy for an answer. 

“Well, I’m glad that you’re aware of the change in plans,” Suga said, motioning to Hinata, “...and Daichi’s unfortunate taste in men,” he shook his head with a scrunched face of distaste. 

“We’ll see you around five?” He turned to the two card dealers who gave a nod in response. 

“Five,” Tsukishima repeated in confirmation. “We’ll check in before they need us at tables on the game floor.” 

Suga broke into a large grin, “Excellent!” 

Tsukishima gave a small nod, “We’re going to change.” He motioned to the bags that he and Yamaguchi were carrying. They contained their clothes for the night, their black and red suits that were their casino uniforms. 

“We also have Tanaka and Nishinoya’s clothes,” Yamaguchi added, holding up another bag before handing it over to Ennoshita who took it with a nod and a smile. 

“Courtesy of Kiyoko, of course,” Yamaguchi explained with a smile as he stepped back next to Tsukishima. 

“Wonderful,” Suga smiled, glad that at least other things were going right. “You two do that.” 

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi said their goodbyes and good lucks, walking towards the restroom to change. When they passed by Hinata, Tsukishima gave him a ‘don’t-mess-this-up’ glare and Yamaguchi gave him a thumbs up and a cheery smile. 

Once they were a ways away, Suga turned back to the three and put his hands on his hips. 

“Well, I just wanted to check on the pinch and Kageyama-kun,” he said before walking over to Kageyama, “sorry about your fingers.” he looked at the injured fingers with a frown.

Kageyama huffed, glancing away with reddened ears. “I-it’s fine…” he muttered. 

“Doctor said we had nothing to worry about,” Ennoshita nodded with a smile. “We’ll get ready over here and I’ll give these over to the chaotic duo.” He then added, holding up the bags of outfits. 

“Perfect!” Suga chirped, patting Kageyama’s shoulder before walking backwards towards their vault set, “I’m going to grab something for Kinoshita and Narita, then I’ll take Hinata and Kageyama-kun back to Asahi’s to get ready.”

Ennoshita gave a nod, “Sounds good.” He then turned to the two younger men with a small, encouraging smile before he headed off to find Nishinoya and Tanaka. 

That left Kageyama and Hinata alone at the entrance of the warehouse, standing awkwardly as the arid Nevada breeze blew through the open garage door. 

Hinata kicked the ground, avoiding eye contact with Kageyama, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets while the other picked at the gauze around his fingers. 

Unable to take the silence and the guilt gnawing away at him, Hinata sighed and tilted his head back to look over at Kageyama, 

“Sorry about your hand.” He muttered with a small pout. 

Kageyama blinked, looking up from his hand and over to Hinata. When their eyes met, Hinata’s eyes widened and he quickly looked away, muttering under his breath about how he should have said nothing instead. 

It did take a moment for Kageyama to respond, though. The dark haired man looked down at his hands for a few minutes before looking back up at Hinata. 

“Well,” he started, “at least you didn’t completely jeopardize the job.” 

At these words, Hinata huffed and spun back around to protest. “Jeopardizing this job would be the last thing that I’d do!” he argued with a pout. 

“It better be, dumbass,” Kageyama replied, holding out his not injured hand in a fist. 

Hinata eyes it with suspicion, thinking he was going to punch him or something, before he realized what Kageyama wanted and grinned widely, happily returning the fist bump with a determined look in his eyes. 

“I will.” he promised with a nod. 

Kageyama grinned. 

Or at least, something of the sort. Whatever it was, it spooked Hianta a little. It was like someone who didn’t know how to smile was trying to smile for the first time. Nevertheless,it seemed like he and Kageyama were finally on good terms and all it took were some smashed fingers. 

“Aww, look at my boys getting along finally!” Suga cooed, coming from the set with a teasing smile and a knowing look. 

They quickly dropped their hands in embarrassment, taking a few steps away from each other with nervous mutters. Suga chuckled, tossing an USB up into the air before catching it with a grin. 

“Alright boys, let’s get ready. The show’s about to start!”

***

Once back at the hotel, Suga sent Hinata to Ukai and Takeda, who had brought over some suits from their place for him to try on for his role while he walked over to their tech table and Kageyama went to go and change.

It was about half past three now, they all had about two hours or so before they had to check in to make sure that they were good to go for their different roles in the heist. Of course, there was some level of nervousness Suga felt when he walked into the hotel room, it mainly stemming from Asahi, but it wasn’t an overpowering feeling. Most of these guys were pros, they’ve done these sorts of things before so there was no need for them to panic. Sure, they hadn’t pulled a job as big as this one, but hey, how hard could it be? It was only three casinos. 

“This what you needed?” Suga asked, opening his palm to reveal an orange USB to Kinoshita and Narita who were seated at the large table, surrounded by computer screens monitoring the different cameras in the Nekoma. 

Narita picked it up with a grin, “Yes! This is it, thanks!” 

Suga smiled, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth, “No problem.” 

He got up to leave to check on Hinata when Kinoshita held up a hand, “Wait.” 

Suga stopped and raised an eyebrow. 

“Daichi wanted to talk to you,” Kinoshita pointed to a closed door that led to one of the many rooms in Asahi’s hotel suite, his eyes glued to one screen. 

Suga eyed the door and with a groan, he put the lollipop back into his mouth. 

“Of course he does,” he muttered, shaking his head as he started to walk over to the door. He stopped halfway to glance back at the two, “Do you two have everything you need?”

Narita nodded, plugging the USB into one of their several monitors. 

“Yup,” Kinoshita confirmed, looking up from the screen with a smile, “you just go talk to Daichi.”

Suga gave a sigh, waving his hand in the air before making the final stretch to the door and opening it up slowly. 

Once open, he was met with the side profile of Daichi, who was gazing out the window, fiddling with his cufflinks, and sporting a new suit. From what Suga could see, it was a classic white and black two piece that fitted Daichi like a glove. And he had brushed his hair too. 

Suga closed the door behind him, a little louder than he should have to, in order to announce his presence. 

“Oh, you’re here,” Daichi said, no surprise or alarm in his voice. He maintained a calm and collected tone and aura, despite him still messing with the ends of his suit sleeves. 

Suga only hummed in response, slowly making his way over as he looked around the room. It was nicely decorated, a large queen bed in the middle of the room, a fancy painting hanging above it. For a moment, Suga thought about owning a hotel to have nice rooms like these. Only for a moment though. 

“I hope the reason you wanted to talk was to apologize,” Suga sneered, stopping a few feet in front of Daichi, arms crossed across his chest. 

Daichi chuckled softly, glancing down at his wrists before he slowly turned to face Suga, giving him a soft smile, “Something of that sort.” 

There was a silence, during which Suga was busy studying Daichi’s face, looking for any signs of remorse or guilt. He couldn’t quite find any of that yet.

“How do I look?” Daichi then asked, breaking the silence as he spread his arms out. 

“Presentable,” Suga answered, pushing his lollipop to the side to talk a little better. 

“That’s all you’ve got?” Daichi asked with a teasing smile and a raised eyebrow. 

Suga rolled his eyes and sat down on the side of the bed, bouncing a few times on the mattress for good measure. “You’re going to get caught,” he uttered, staring out the window at the Mandalay Bay hotel. 

Daichi followed his gaze, answering with confidence. “Well, that’s the plan.” 

“It wasn’t originally,” Suga shot back, narrowing his eyes.

There was another silence. 

Daichi’s eyes moved away from the window and back down to his hands. He snapped his fingers a few times before he glanced back over to Suga, the other still gazing out of the window as the lollipop hung from his lips. 

“What’s the flavor?” Daichi asked, gesturing to the lollipop with a point. 

Suga pulled the lollipop out with a ‘pop’! 

“Cherry,” he responded, looking at the bright red head of the candy before turning to look up at Daichi, “wanna taste?”

Daichi blinked. “If you’d let me,” he then replied in a slightly hopeful tone that matched his now soft expression. 

Suga turned away and put the candy back into his mouth. Daichi took that as a no, cleared his throat, and looked away. 

“You better know what you’re doing,” Suga whispered, barely loud enough for Daichi to hear. 

He turned his head to look at Suga, the words taking Daichi back. Back to younger times. Back to times where he was with Kuroo. So, instead of Suga sitting on that bed with a lollipop between his lips, he saw Kuroo. Saw him looking back at him. 

They were just kids back then, foolish high school rivals. Kuroo was Kuroo and Daichi was Daichi. No matter how much Daichi really loved Kuroo, he loved the game more. The thrill of the heist. He was certain that it ran through his veins. And to give it up? Even for Kuroo? That was asking too much from Daichi. 

But did he know what he was doing?

Kuroo had asked him that question before they started to date. Like he didn’t trust Daichi or something. But could he blame him?

Daichi blinked, shaking his head slightly, and now he saw Suga. 

Suga who had been there for him from the start. Suga who always had his back and saved Daichi’s ass when he needed it. Suga who finishes his sentences and knows his thoughts better than Daichi himself. Suga who was looking back at him with a vaguely hurt expression, waiting for an answer. 

Daichi sighed. 

“I know what I’m doing,” he answered. Or promised, really. Frankly, Daichi was surprised at how sincere and genuine he sounded with that claim. 

Suga raised an eyebrow and stared Daichi down, searching for anything that would give Daichi’s lies away. 

He found nothing.

As dumb as Suga thought the idea would be, it was the perfect alibi, he knew this. The moment Daichi was told he’d been red-flagged, Suga could already tell that Daichi was going to work around it and use it to his advantage. He could see it in his eyes, in his thoughts. Suga knew how much Daichi wanted to do this job. Even if it hadn’t been a revenge job, Suga knew there was nothing more Daichi loved to do than to get a job done. So Suga knew there was no point in trying to stop Daichi from doing this job.

“Alright,” Suga muttered with a nod, “I don’t approve of it fully, but you do you.”

Daichi smiled softly, “Thanks Koushi,”

Suga waved a hand in the air, getting off of the mattress, “Don’t mention it.” 

“Really, Suga, I-”

Suga stopped him with a finger in his chest, “Just don’t expect any cookies this time around.” 

Daichi held up his hands in surrender and chuckled. “Alright, that’s fine with me.” 

“Good,” Suga grinned, pulling his finger back as Daichi dropped his hands down to fix his bow tie, happy that he was able to sort this out with Suga. 

“Did our argument worry Hinata?” Daichi asked with a chuckle, tugging at the ends of his bow tie till he was satisfied with it, 

“Mmh,” Suga nodded, “as much as I love teasing the poor boy, you owe him an apology for last night.” he waved his lollipop at Daichi. 

“I’ll get to that,” Daichi assured, “I have to make a phone call first.”

Suga smiled softly at Daichi before turning his heel and walking back towards the door. He stopped, hand on the door knob before turning to Daichi with a mischievous look, “You think we can pull this off?"

Daichi scoffed, “Do you really have to ask that?"

Suga laughed and closed the door behind him. 

***

Hinata stood awkwardly in front of Suga clutching a briefcase, nervously glancing at the clock behind Suga’s head that was slowly ticking towards five o’clock. 

Takeda and Ukai had taken their time to dress him up in several different suits. Either they were too big for Hinata or Ukai insisted that the colors didn’t bring out Hinata’s orange hair, so it took some time before they settled for a simple business formal dark suit with a dark brown coat and a vest. 

It itched a little and the coat was a little big, Hianta also didn’t see the need for glasses, but Takeda insisted that it added to the ‘professional’ look they were going for. 

“Okay,” Suga clasped his hands together, sitting at the bar counter in front of Hinata as the poor young man nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his free hand roaming around, in and out of his pocket, tapping nervously on his leg, scratching his head. He was a complete nervous wreck. But Suga was going to hopefully give him enough advice to fix this. 

“Where are you going to put your hand?” Suga asked, watching as it continued it’s wild journey in and out of several pockets. 

“I, uh-” Hinata pulled it out of his inside pocket and reached up to his orange tie. 

Suga shook his head, “No, don’t touch your tie, look at me.” 

Hinata dropped his hand and looked right at Suga, swallowing. 

“Just leave it,” Suga instructed, waving his hand at Hinata, “if you move it around like that it shows that you’re nervous which just gives you away.” 

“R-right,” Hinata nodded, glancing down at his hand that was twitching to go back into his pocket. 

Suga gave him a reassuring smile before continuing with his lesson. 

“Okay, I ask you a question, you have to think of an answer. Where do you look?” He leaned forward a bit, rubbing his hands together. 

Hinata licked his lips before looking down. 

“No good,” Suga immediately remarked, shaking his hand at Hinata. “If you look down they’ll know you’re lying.” 

Hinata blinked before he looked up instead. 

Suga shook his hand again, “No, if you look up they know you don’t know the answer.” 

Hinata sighed and glanced side to side with a silent groan before forcing himself to look directly at Suga. 

“Don’t use seven words when four will do,” Suga advised, “don’t shift your weight either-” He pointed at Hinata’s feet that were still shifting back and forth. 

“-Look always at your mark, but don’t stare. Be specific but not memorable-” Suga counted off his fingers. 

Hinata blinked, his brain short circuiting as he wondered if he should be taking notes or something. 

“-You want to be funny, but don’t make him laugh,” Suga warned, looking up at Hinata, “he’s got to like you but then forget you the moment you’ve left his sight-”

Hinata opened and closed his mouth, stuttering half formed words as Suga stared him down, suddenly looking rather serious.

“-And for the gods’ sake, whatever you do, don’t, under any circumstance-”

“Hey Suga!” Narita called from the table across the room, waving him over, “can you come look at this?”

Suga blinked and looked up over Hinata’s shoulder towards their tech table before nodded and getting up from the bar stool,

“Yeah, sure.” 

He walked past Hinata, giving him a quick pat on the shoulder and not a further thought as he walked on over to Narita and Kinoshita who were pointing at a screen and talking quietly amongst themselves. 

Hinata slowly turned, watching Suga leave with a blank look. 

He turned back around to the counter top where Suga had been, blinking in confusion as he tried to register and retain everything that Suga had just told him, or tried to tell him. 

He gave himself a five minute cool down before he spun around and hurried over to Suga, “Hey, c-can you repeat everything over again?”

***

Asahi took a deep breath, sitting at the edge of his bed, his hands gripping the edge of the bed a little tighter than he should have been, his knuckles white. 

Ukai and Takeda had just stopped by to drop off Asahi’s suit before they were going to head over to the volleyball match to watch Kuroo from there since Kiyoko informed them that he would be attending with Kenma later today. 

It had taken Asahi a lot longer to put the suit on than it normally would have. He was so nervous about tonight that he put on nearly everything backwards before he realized that he was wearing it wrong. Then once he got that right, he had trouble buttoning up the vest and tying his tie due to his shaky hands. It was about the hardest thing Asahi had done this entire heist. 

“Okay, I can do this,” he muttered, licking his lips as he stared down at his feet. 

He closed his eyes and drew a breath, pushing himself off the bed onto shaking feet before immediately falling back down onto the bed as his knees gave way from under him. 

He blinked a few times in confusion before looking up and meeting Suga’s concerned eyes, the man standing in the doorway, his hand on the frame as he leaned in. It looked like Suga had come to check on Asahi or something and Asahi cursed silently for looking so weak. 

Suga didn’t ask or say anything though, a small, encouraging smile on his face (Asahi was grateful that Suga didn’t hit him). 

“Are you ready to go?” He asked, pretending he didn’t see Asahi totally fall back down onto the bed. 

Asahi bit his lip, slowly pushing himself up again with a nod, “Y-yeah, I’m ready.”

Suga gave a small nod before leaning off the door frame and walking out, not casting a single worried glance back at his friend. He had faith in Asahi, they all did. 

“Right,” Asahi muttered to himself, “I got this…”

***

The volleyball match had a surprising turnout. People from all over had stopped to take a visit at the large gymnasium where they usually held different sports events, most noticeably, boxing, and because it was Vegas, people were placing bets. Which was probably the reason why there were so many sports go-ers filling into the stadium. 

“It’s a beautiful night here in Las Vegas!” a news reported announced, smiling brightly at the camera, “And with the expected crowd of celebrities and eager sports fans piling into the MGM Grand Garden arena, the two best international teams, the MSBY Black Jackals and the Schweiden Adlers, finally face off after their last match a year ago.”

Back at the warehouse, half of the team checked in, getting comms from Ennoshita.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were all dressed up in their casino floor attire, white button ups with a red vest detailed with intricate black stitching on the sides to match their black bow ties. Yamaguchi helped Tsukishima with his black bow tie, despite Nishinoya and Tanaka’s snickering. The two of them just helped Ennoshita load the pinch into the back of their white van, now dressed up in their black and white bodyguard suits, ready to escort Asahi’s special package to him at the hotel.

Meanwhile, the other half was getting ready at the hotel, Narita the one giving them their comms.

Nervous energy bounced back and forth between Hinata and Asahi as they fumbled with their earpieces, Narita and Kinoshita assisting them both. 

Kageyama stood a bit further back from the group, nursing his swollen hand with a bag of ice, dressed in a sleek, black leotard that matched his hair.

Ukai and Takeda had already gone, headed to the volleyball match after wishing them all luck. Daichi was gone too, but nobody said a word about it, figuring he and Suga had already had something worked out. 

“Alright boys,” Suga addressed everyone, dressed in a shiny blue button-up shirt and darker tie “the stage is finally set for the biggest robbery on the Las Vegas Strip.” He paused and grinned gleefully, “Get ready to go down in history.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos! I really appreciate it! I wasn't sure how much you all would like this little AU, so I'm thrilled to see that you guys seem to be enjoying it!
> 
> And yes! The heist is finally starting! The ACTUAL heist. No more recon work!
> 
> Another quick thanks to @RuneOak for beta reading this chapter again, they're amazing and I can't thank them enough! 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you again next week!


	7. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks of recon and preparation, the boys are finally able to pull off the biggest heist on the Las Vegas Strip. With or without Daichi alongside them, they're determined to leave richer than before.

Asahi stood at the entrance of the Nekoma nervously rocking back and forth on the balls and heels of his feet, his dress shoes pinching just slightly. He was supposed to meet Kuroo and escort the package into the vault, which would then kick off the entire heist. 

He inhaled sharply, tugging at his tie as he looked out at the endless cycle of cars, taxis, and buses pulling into the round-about at the entrance, searching for the sleek black car that Nishinoya and Tanaka were supposed to arrive in.

Sure, sometimes they were a little unreliable, loud, brash, and very confident (Asahi would do a lot for an ounce of that kind of confidence.  _ Real  _ confidence), but Asahi trusted them. Nishinoya had always expressed a sort of admiration for Asahi, ever since that thing with those guys a few years ago, so he couldn’t have imagined what it was like for Nishinoya after Asahi quit the game a few months after Daichi’s arrest. 

Waiting there, Asahi figured the one way to prove that even if he left the game, thinking he’d never get back into it again all those years ago, he was still good at his craft. He was going to be Arthur Fredrick, dammit, and he was going to make sure that they came out of this heist alive and richer. 

“Mr. Arthur,” a voice said, coming up from behind Asahi. 

The man tensed just slightly, the sudden introduction catching him slightly off guard and causing Asahi to yank on his tie a bit. He played it off with a cough, thanking the gods for the dark tinted sunglasses he was wearing that blocked the nervous look in his eyes. 

“Mr. Kuroo.” Asahi responded with a short nod and quick clearing of his throat. He glanced over as the tall, lanky manager walked up to his side, wearing a sharp red three piece suit with a black vest and button-up with a red tie to go along with it. Asahi suddenly felt a little self-conscious about his own suit, a light tan three-piece with an orange tie. However, a quick glance up and Asahi realized he at least had the better hair. His own was tied up in a neat ponytail while Kuroo’s was it’s usual rooster-head mess. 

Asahi took his eyes off Kuroo, the other a little hunched over, his hands in his pockets, and he looked out at the cars passing by as well, 

“It’s a very busy night for me,” Kuroo said, pulling out his hand to look at a silver wristwatch, “we on schedule?” He asked, glancing up at Asahi. 

Asahi scoffed, giving his suit coat a tug as he puffed up his chest, summoning his character’s confidence, before turning to look at Kuroo. “Are you doubting my boys?” he asked in a hostile tone, Frederick Arthur coming to him easily, “If we said we had something arriving at a certain time, you can be assured that it’ll get here at that time.”

Kuroo didn’t seem too afraid, he simply held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head as he took a tiny step back. 

“My bad,” he apologized, “Just wanted to make sure we were good to go.”

A black car pulled up alongside them and Asahi relaxed, smiling just a bit at the sight of Nishinoya in the passenger’s seat. 

“Ah, here they are,” Asahi muttered, giving Kuroo a side glance as Nishinoya exited the car, Tanaka doing the same from the backseat, holding a briefcase that was handcuffed to his wrist. 

Tanaka approached Asahi, him and Nishinoya wearing matching black suits and sunglasses, wearing the blankest look Asahi had probably ever seen them wear in years. 

The bald man stopped in front of Asahi, the other holding his arm out as Nishinoya took a key from his pocket and detached the handcuff from Tanaka, only to transfer it to Asahi’s own wrist. 

Asahi almost missed it, but Nishinoya had given him a quick, encouraging smile, before he stepped back, standing next to Tanaka as the car pulled away, Ennoshita being the one who was likely the driver. 

“That it?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow at the slender black briefcase now attached on Asahi’s wrist. 

Asahi gave a nod, “This is it.” 

Kuroo gave a small nod before turning and waving a hand in the air, motioning to them to follow him back into the casino. 

Asahi drew a breath before he followed behind Kuroo closely, Tanaka and Nishinoya trailing behind them, their heads held up high. Asahi just knew that the two of them were having too much fun with this. 

Once entering, they headed through the casino’s crowded gaming floor. All around people bustled about, placing bets, playing games, people were chatting excitedly, smoking, cheering, or yelling in discouragement at fate. 

“Alright, place your bets, see if you get lucky this time around,” a voice chuckled as they walked past. The golden eyes of Tsukishima Kei watched them closely as they walked by, his slender fingers coming up to push up his glasses in confirmation. He was in place and he was ready. 

Across from his table, was the freckled Yamaguchi, smiling wide as he shuffled a deck of cards with a tremendous amount of skill. When he caught sight of the small entourage passing through his face grew serious for just a second, before he went back to smiling at his audience, convincing them to place their bets. 

One person, however, almost threw them off guard. 

Asahi nearly stopped in his tracks when his wandering eyes caught sight of Daichi Sawamura sitting casually at one of the slot games with a drink in his hands, his dark eyes following them as they walked past. 

A siren went off in his head, wasn’t Daichi red-listed? Would they get into trouble? What if something happened? What was Daichi  _ thinking _ ?

Asahi licked his lips nervously as he glanced back at Tanaka and Nishinoya, who didn’t even notice their leader sipping a cocktail like he hadn’t a care in the world, before looking at Kuroo to see if he had spotted Daichi. 

He did. 

Kuroo’s eyes narrowed as he leaned over to one of the casino assistants who had joined them as they walked through the casino, a young man with big eyes and curly brown hair, “Inform Kai that Daichi’s in the west slots.”

The man gave a nod before breaking off from the group, Kuroo hummed in satisfaction at this before he turned to glance at Asahi. 

Asahi must’ve looked curious or something because Kuroo gave a chuckle and the wave of his hand, “Oh, don’t worry about it, it’s just business that I have to take care of, I’m sure you know how that goes.”

The comment pulled Asahi out of his little panic episode in his head, he blinked a few times, registering what Kuroo had said before letting out a sharp, forced laugh. 

“Oh yes, I know what you mean.” He answered, his voice squeaking only a bit. 

Kuroo gave a strained smile before stopping and turning to look over at Nishinoya and Tanaka. “I’m afraid I can’t have any private security personnel in the casino cages,” he said, his gaze slowly turning back to Asahi, “I hope you don’t mind.” 

Asahi blinked before shaking his head, “No, I don’t. I get that.” He nodded and then turned to Nishinoya and Tanaka to dismiss them. He knew that they had other roles they would play later, but he just wished they could stay and be his moral support for a bit, but alas, he had to suck it up. 

“Lee, Dawson-” Asahi snapped, making the two stand up a little straighter, “you heard-”

“Asahi?” Azumane Asahi, is that you?”

Asahi felt his entire body freeze, as if he’d been drenched in ice cold water, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, alert. This was not happening. 

“Asahi! Asahi, it’s me!” The voice called again, this time gaining attention from all of them now. 

A man walked out from one of the rows of slot games, grinning as he stopped a few feet away from them, arms open wide.

“It’s Kanji Koganegawa!” the giant funny-haired man declared, “From the Iron Wall! Remember that? Oh man, that seemed like such a long time ago! It’s so good to see you!” 

Still frozen, Asahi could feel Kuroo’s eyes on him now. They were studying him, he could feel the doubt in his gaze, the reconsideration and Asahi had to react quickly before Kuroo could make any possible connections after just seeing Daichi, knowing that he was a criminal. It was possible that Kuroo could put two and two together, but Asahi was going to make sure that didn’t happen. 

He cleared his throat and straightened up, “Lee, Dawson?” 

Nishinoya and Tanaka, who seemed to be a little less stressed about the situation, but nonetheless caught off guard, snapped their heads at Asahi before realizing what he was implying with the little wave of his hand. 

They gave a nod before they turned to Kogane, the both of them rolling up their suit sleeves before grabbing the man by the arms and dragging him off. 

“Hey! Wait-!” Kogane fussed, squirming, “Asahi!” 

Asahi swallowed, watching him get dragged away. He wanted to break down right then and there, that was so embarrassing. He was sure that his ears were bright red because his face was flushed, the heat emitting from his cheeks almost caused his sunglasses to fog up. 

He inhaled sharply, giving his mind a mental slap before he turned to Kuroo, putting up a face to make it seem like that hadn’t phased him in the slightest. 

“What a pain,” Asahi said, shaking his head, “if we weren’t in a casino, I would’ve shot the guy.” 

Kuroo blinked at the statement before he shook his head and started walking again. 

Asahi sighed in relief and did a quick glance back before scurrying after Kuroo again, wiping sweat off his brow. 

Kuroo led him down the twisting hallways of the inside of the casino cages before entering a room with several money carts and poker chips. 

He motioned for Asahi to set the briefcase on top of some money carts before he stepped back and folded his arms, watching the other closely with sharp eyes. 

Asahi swallowed as he carefully set the briefcase on the carts, making sure not to cower under Kuroo’s cat-like gaze. He fumbled with the key just a bit before he finally unlocked the handcuff and then the briefcase. 

He inhaled slowly as he opened up the briefcase, four glistening green emeralds winked back at him before he turned the case around so that Kuroo could take a look for himself. 

Kuroo pushed himself off of the shelves of poker chips and unfolded his arms as he slowly walked over to the case, leaning down to examine them. He has a slight look of surprise on his face at the jewels, which Asahi read as confusion.

“They’re for his prized possession,” Asahi explained in a gruff voice, best he could manage, “so I’m sure Papa Dino would like to make sure that nothing happens to these gems.” 

Kuroo’s gaze started to slowly leave the gems and make its way up towards Asahi, the calculating gaze sent chills down Asahi’s spine and he started to sweat. 

“Alright then,” Kuroo said, pulling away from the case, “I acknowledge that your items are legit and that they can be housed in my vault, but-” he held up a hand, “I cannot let you accompany the case in the vault.” 

Asahi blinked, mentally high fiving himself for successfully coming this far, “Why not?”

“Insurance for one, security for another,” he answered, holding up two fingers. “But most of all?” He said with a sly grin, “I just don’t trust you.” 

He dropped his hand and closed the briefcase with a loud, thunk! in the process, causing Asahi to flinch just a little. Kuroo gave the case a few pats before he pulled his hand away at the knock of someone at the door before it slowly opened. 

In stepped a tall, dark skinned man with short, curly hair. He was dressed in the classic black suit with a red tie that Asahi had seen many Nekoma employees wore. 

Asahi watched as the man went over to Kuroo and leaned over, whispering something in his ear. Asahi leaned forward a bit, trying to make out what he was whispering, but all he could pick up was the name of his friend, which could only mean that Daichi had been picked up. Asahi prayed that this was some part of Daichi and Suga’s plan, as the two tended to do their own sorts of things during jobs. They called it improvising, Asahi called it a headache. 

The man then leaned back and stood next to Kuroo with his hands folded in front of him. He was looking at Asahi, but it was a lot less intimidating and more welcoming, which Asahi appreciated and relaxed at. 

“Mr. Arthur,” Kuroo said, looking from the man back to Asahi, “This is Kai, he’s one of the other casino managers training under Nekomata-” 

The man gave a nod and Asahi returned it with his own.

“-he’ll arrange for your briefcase to be stored in the vault while you watch on our security monitors. These are my terms, do you accept them, yes or no?” Kuroo ended the question with the slight tilt of his head. 

Asahi cleared his throat and tugged at the ends of his suit coat before giving a brief nod, “Well, alright then. That works for me."

Kuroo gave a strained smile before walking towards the door, “Alright, follow me Mr. Arthur, I’ll show you to the security rooms.”

Asahi gave one last glance back to the case that was currently being picked up by Kai before turning and following after Kuroo.

***

“Guys, no, I told you it goes the other way

“Does it really matter? I mean it looks the same either way.”

“Yes it matters!” Ennoshita exclaimed, directing Tanaka to move backwards and turn with the upward movement of his eyebrows and eyes since he had the large cylindrical in his arms. 

Tanaka huffed and did as he was told, him and Ennoshita on either ends of the pinch as they hoisted it up into the back of an unmarked white van. 

Nishinoya got a running start before slamming his side into the pinch to push it further back into the van, Ennoshita letting out a cry of alarm for the possibility of something breaking. 

“Don’t do that!” He scolded while Nishinoya high-fived Tanaka. 

“My bad,” Nishinoya quickly said before closing the back doors, “I just got excited!” 

Ennoshita sighed and shook his head, “So long as you didn’t break anything…”

Tanaka and Nishinoya had just arrived back from acting as Asahi’s bodyguards, still dressed in their bodyguard suits, but they had long ditched the ties and coats, now sporting just the white button up and black slacks. 

“Well, now that that’s done, it’s time for us to shine!” Tanaka grinned, rubbing his hands together in anticipation before pointing proudly at himself. 

“Hell yeah bro!” Nishinoya exclaimed, fist pumping the air. 

Ennoshita walked over to one of the nearby work tables and grabbed two bags and a hat. As he walked back over, he put the orange hat on, the one that matched his orange worker’s jumpsuit, and tossed the two their bags. 

“If it’s your time to shine, you better not be late.” He told them, both his hands rising to the hat to secure it a little better. “So far, we’re on schedule, I’m supposed to drop you guys off so that you can meet Suga and the others at the hotel.” 

“Psh, we know,” Tanaka reassured with a grin as he leaned down to pick up the bag, Nishinoya following suit. “Good luck on your end, Chikara!” 

Ennoshita smiled softly before giving them a nod

“Yeah, you guys don’t have to worry about anything when you’ve got me!” Nishinoya grinned. “I’ve got your backs!” He announced proudly, as if they were all there instead of just Tanaka and Ennoshita.

The older one gave a chuckle, “Alright then, whatever you say, Noya.” before he shooed them off with the wave of his hand before walking up to the driver’s seat of the car and getting in.

“Yeah, but they’ve also got me to back them up!” Tanaka added as he and Nishinoya started to walk to the restrooms.

“I’m better,” Nishinoya challenged with a sly grin.

And thus began a cycle of bickering as they proceeded to enter the restrooms to change.

***

Hinata stood at a counter, leaning against it as he watched the elevator near the back of the game floor, waiting for Kuroo to exit

He scratched the back of his neck in an attempt to get rid of the chills crawling up and down his spine because he  _ knew  _ that Tsukishima was staring him down from the table he was dealing at just a few paces away

“Look, relax,” came Kinoshita’s voice from his earpiece. It nearly scared Hinata out of his skin. If he hadn’t been gripping the counter top, Hianta was sure he would’ve jumped and hit his head on the ceiling. It’s happened before.

“Suga says you’re too tense, you have to relax,” Kinoshita repeated into his ear

Hinata spun around, wondering if Suga was watching him too, somewhere on the casino game floor, until he smacked his forehead in realization and looked up at the camera in the corner

Up in Asahi’s hotel room, Kinoshita, Narita, and Suga sat around the computers watching and waiting for the moment to cue up Hinata once Kuroo entered the elevator

“I am relaxed,” Hinata muttered back, slowly looking away from the camera, not wanting to cause any suspicion, “I’m SO relaxed

He didn’t appreciate Kinoshita’s little chuckle, “Alright, then

“Stay sharp Hinata-kun,” now came the voice of Suga, “we’ve got eyes on Asahi and Kuroo, they’re headed to the security room

Hinata nodded and drew a breath, his grip tightening on the briefcase he was holding. He proceeded to glance around before he leaned against the counter top, doing his best to relax

They were all counting on him. 

No pressure. 

***

“Thanks for the ride Chikara!” Tanaka shouted as the van pulled away from one of the back entrances of the hotel.

“Shh!” Nishinoya exclaimed, elbowing Tanaka in the side, “We’re not supposed to draw any attention!"

“Ow!” Tanaka groaned, rubbing his side as he glared at Nishinoya. But he was right, they weren’t supposed to draw any kind of attention, so he kept quiet and grabbed onto the cart in front of him with a huff before Nishinoya followed suit and the two of them started walking up a delivery ramp into the hotel

Both of them wore white housekeeping suits with red buttons and bow ties, the money cart they pushed through the casino was disguised as a food cart with a white cloth draped over it and food on top

Nobody gave them a second glance as they made their way to the elevator, chit-chatting about whether or not they would spot Kiyoko-san (they really hoped that they would, but they would not). Then, once inside, they punched the button to Asahi’s floor and waited until the elevator dinged again and opened

They pushed the cart down the hallway before arriving at Asahi’s door, Nishinoya knocking eagerly as Tanaka shouted, “Room service

Narita opened the door and stepped aside, allowing them in as he glanced around the hallway before closing the door after Nishinoya

“Who ordered the sushi omelette?” Tanaka asked with a grin, uncapping a plate of sushi with a flourish

“I did,” Narita said, coming from behind them before taking the plate and setting it down on the table

Nishinoya took the rest of the plates off, putting on a show as he carried three on his arm and one on his head before Suga and Narita grabbed the dishes with slightly disapproving glares before they set those on the table as well

Tanaka then yanked the white cloth off the cart and bundled it up into a ball before tossing it onto the table, it landing on top of a computer screen. Kinoshita sighed, shaking his head, as he took it off and folded it neatly before setting it aside

Suga walked over to the cart and popped open the top, peering inside. He whistled and then looked up and over to Kageyama who was wrapping his hand with a new gauze, keeping all his fingers close together so that they wouldn’t have to move around so much

“You ready?” Suga asked, getting Kageyama’s attention

The other looked up and glanced at the five before nodding

He was ready.

***

“This is our security center, where we oversee all gaming in the casino as well as our vault,” Kuroo explained, walking Asahi into a room filled with personnel and tons of security monitors flickering back and forth from the different cameras.

“You’ll be able to monitor your briefcase from here.” He stopped and took a glance at his watch. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ll be going now.”

Asahi glanced at the different screens before looking back at Kuroo and giving a nod, “Yeah, don’t let me keep you.” 

Kuroo gave another cheeky smile and a nod, ”Mr. Arthur.”

“Mr. Kuroo,” Asahi responded, taking his gaze off of Kuroo. 

He heard the sounds of Kuroo’s footsteps fade away, leaving Asahi at the back of the security room. From there, he was able to see all the computers and the backs of the heads of the different workers. 

He froze a little when he recognized the bright orange hair of Hinata in one of the cameras, the poor young man was doing what looked to be push ups against one of the gaming counters. He had his arms stretched behind him, up against the counter, and was nervously going up and down. 

Asahi wanted to whisper into his comm for Hinata to stop acting so suspicious and give him some advice, but the poor man was already pretty nervous himself. So, any advice on how to get rid of anxiety wasn’t going to be helpful. Besides, Asahi doubted he’d get much of a signal down here. Not to mention, he couldn’t exactly whisper into his comm and not be noticed by the several Nekoma security personnel in the room

Anyways, Asahi was sure that the monitors up in his room could handle it. 

***

“Hinata!” 

Kinoshita’s loud voice caused Hinata to jump this time and spin around widely, eyes big, until he looked up at the camera and blinked, his hands held up in surrender. 

“I think he’s going to puke,” Tanaka observed, leaning over Narita to look at the screen. 

“Don’t puke,” Kinoshita said into the mic, glaring back at Tanaka and Nishinoya who were invading their space to get a better look at Hinata. 

“I’m not going to puke,” Hinata muttered, only gagging slightly on his words. 

“That’s disgusting,” Nishinoya commented, pulling back and making a face. 

“Kuroo’s on his way,” Narita spoke up, pointing at the screen on his right. 

Sure enough, the camera was showing Kuroo walk down the halls, back up into the game floor where Hinata was waiting for him.

Suga walked over to Kinoshita and grabbed the mic, “He’s coming. Get ready.” 

The only response they got from Hinata was a squeak and they watched as he spun around to face the elevator, frantically picking up his briefcase with one hand and smoothening out his clothes and hair with the other. 

“Deep breaths, Hinata-kun,” Suga advised, “you can do this.”

Hinata took a breath and nodded, wiping the sweat off of his brow. 

Oh man, he really had to use the restroom. 

The elevator dinged and opened, out stepped Kuroo, his hands in his pant pockets as he walked casually past Hinata, not even giving him a second look. 

Hinata watched as he met with a wide-eyed, dark curly haired man, dressed in a dark suit with red tie, who handed him a black folder, to which Kuroo smiled and gladly took. 

The codes, Hinata thought, watching as the two parted ways. That was his target. 

Hinata took several deep breaths before deciding, screw it, and scrambled after Kuroo.

“Mr. Kuroo?” he asked, it sounded more squeaky than Hinata would’ve liked. 

Kuroo turned to look at him, but kept walking, raising an eyebrow in confusion, his expression reading, ‘Do I know you?’

“Hi, um, I’m Sargent Sugimura with the Nevada Gaming Commission,” Hinata lied, “I’m afraid I need a few minutes of your time.” 

Kuroo eyed him suspiciously and Hinata did his best not to sweat or avoid eye contact, though it was difficult to keep looking at Kuroo, maintain his long strides pace, and not run into anyone or anything. 

Finally Kuroo shrugged, closing the black folder before putting it away neatly in one of the inside pockets of his coat. 

“Anything for the NGC.” he responded. 

Hinata sighed in relief and broke out into a wide grin, “Thank you!” 

He must have sounded a little too excited because Kuroo raised his eyebrow again at Hinata and the other quickly looked away, his ears burning as he cleared his throat and extended his hand, 

“Uh, c-could you accompany me to pit 11 please?”

***

Daichi had been sitting in the same slot chair for a while now. From where he was he could see Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Hinata pretty clearly. One would think that he chose that place for some specific reason, but he sat there, nonchalantly, drinking out of a whiskey glass every now and then as his eyes skimmed the casino floor. 

He found the most amusement from Hinata, who was doing several things to keep himself occupied. Daichi wondered if it would’ve been a better idea to have sent the younger man downstairs a little later so that he wasn’t drawing attention to himself by hanging around the game counter, jumping up and down and talking to himself as he waited for Kuroo. 

Daichi did find some amusement in Tsukishima though, the blonde was busy dealing out cards to blackjack players with a smile Daichi could tell was fake, but he didn’t think anyone else would. Yamaguchi, maybe, but certainly not the players who were just trying to get lucky. 

Every once in a while though, Daichi could see Tsukishima glaring at Hinata through his rectangular glasses. A few times, Daichi could see Tsukishima’s mouth slightly moving, as if he was muttering things under his breath about Hinata’s performance. It was pretty amusing. 

Then there was Yamaguchi, who was smiling brightly, as he shuffled cards, occasionally glancing over at Tsukishima or Hinata before shaking his head and going back to work with his genuine grin. 

Daichi admired their new comers, he really did. They had proved to be valuable teammates and even more so, Daichi would consider them to be friends. Well, really, Daichi felt that he had some responsibility for them since Hinata was Bokuto and Akaashi’s and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were trained by his other best friend, Ikejiri. 

So, a part of him felt guilty about possibly endangering them by being out in public when he had been red flagged. The very thought of them facing time because of him almost sent him back to hide in Asahi’s hotel room. 

Of course, he cared about the others, but they were professionals. They have already done these kinds of things before, but because they were first timers, Daichi felt more guilty than he thought he should. 

However, Daichi was cocky. He was headstrong and dense, as Suga so often put it. So, he believed that this could work in his favor. And if he knew Kuroo, and he did, it would work even more so. 

So, it wasn’t a risk as much as it was just a change in plans. 

He knew that they’d be alright. 

He tapped at his glass, staring blankly at Hinata who was pushing himself up and down against the counter. It made him chuckle a bit and shake his head, his thoughts going back to Suga’s words about if he knew what he was doing. 

I do, he told himself, watching Hinata close as the red head suddenly jumped and looked around frantically before fixing himself up and turning to the elevator. 

His gaze shifted to the elevator and he held his breath as he waited, exhaling when he saw it open and Kuroo step out. 

He did his best to not let his thoughts make any comments on what Kuroo was wearing and how nice he had always looked in red, taking his gaze away and looking into his nearly empty whiskey glass. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hinata catch up to Kuroo before the two of them headed away, walking towards the card table station where Tsukishima and Yamaguchi would be waiting for them. 

He tapped on his glass rim again, slowly looking up from his glass and back to the elevator. 

“Kiyoko is going to join you,” said the quiet voice of Suga into his earpiece. 

The sudden voice nearly startled him, and had he not been a pro at this game, Daichi would’ve fallen out of his seat. Instead, he merely flinched slightly and blinked several times before he was able to breathe again. 

Before he had left, Suga had given him a comm earpiece as well, telling him that he would alert Daichi ahead of time of Kenma’s entrance so that Daichi could meet him with Kiyoko, who Suga had called ahead of time to make sure she was on board. 

“Jesus Suga,” Daichi muttered. 

“Did I scare you?” Came the innocent reply. 

“What do you think?” Daichi whispered, bringing the glass up to his lips. 

“Well, I was just informing you that Kiyoko is on her way and Kenma is descending down the elevator right now.” 

Daichi took a sip, eyes glued to the elevator. 

“Alright, thanks Suga.” 

There was a few seconds of silence before Suga chuckled, 

“Don’t do anything stupid.” 

‘ _ Stay safe _ .’ 

“No promises.” 

_ ‘I will _ .’ 

The elevator opened once again and out stepped Kenma, wearing an exact contrast of the suit that Daichi had seen Kuroo wearing. A dark three piece with red vest and button up shirt, complete with black shoes and bow tie, his hair pulled back into a ponytail and his bangs held back by red and black hair clips with cats on them. 

Daichi downed the rest of his drink and stood up once Kenma walked past him, headed in the opposite direction of where Hinata and Kuroo had walked. 

He watched him for a few seconds, buttoning up the rest of his shirt before he drew a breath and followed after the younger man in confident strides. 

Yeah, he knew what he was doing. 

***

“Don’t you think we should just go on over there and take him now?” Muttered the lanky silver-haired man sitting at the slots, just a few meters away from Daichi. 

“Will you just shut up already?” Snapped the much shorter man sitting next to him. 

The other huffed and folded his arms, burying his chin into his chest as he followed his superior’s gaze towards the back of Daichi Sawamura. 

“Kuroo specifically said to watch him for a bit before we take him in,” muttered the light brown haired man, his fingers tapping on top of the slot machine. “We have to see what he’s up to before we approach him.” 

“Right,” sighed the other, now throwing his head back, staring up at the ceiling. 

It hadn’t even been a minute when- 

“How long is that going to be though?” His head snapped back up, “Because I want to see the volleyball game.” 

The other’s head snapped backwards to glare, “You tinhead! Just be quiet! You can’t even go to the game, you’ve got work!” 

Lev blinked before frowning at the realization that he did indeed have work. “Aw man, you’re right, sorry.” He glanced away, “Y’know you’re scary when you’re mad, Yaku-Senpa-.” 

“Good.” Yaku nodded with a huff, folding his arms and looking back at Daichi. 

“-but it’s not that intimidating since you’re so short.”

Yaku spun around, arm extending, slamming it into Lev’s side. 

The tall Russian’s eyes widened as he scrambled to stay on the chair, exclaiming in surprise and pain at his Senpai’s sudden, but should’ve been expected, reaction to Lev’s comment about the other’s height. 

“Ow!” Lev exclaimed, rubbing his side. 

Yaku shook a finger at him, “That’s a warning.” 

Lev blinked, looking over Yaku’s shoulder before he scrambled up, still holding his side. 

“What?” Yaku asked, tilting his head. 

Lev pointed, suddenly unable to use words, his mouth opening and closing as half-formed words fell out of his mouth in a jumble of incoherent nonsense. 

Yaku turned around and saw Daichi stand up and then walk away from the slot machine, seemingly following Kenma into the restaurant area of the Nekoma. 

The two guards blinked, looking at each other and then back at Daichi before they realized that they should follow him, scrambling off the slot machine chairs and then lingering behind Daichi. 

“Come on, skyscraper!” Yaku called, a few paces away from Lev, “Put those long limbs to use!” 

Lev made a noise that sounded like a “Hey!” before he hurried over to Yaku’s side, his determined eyes on Daichi. 

He had only joined the Nekoma team a few months ago, being put on their security team under Yaku by their head of security, Taketora Yamamoto. So, he was pretty determined to prove himself as a capable bodyguard. 

This would probably be his chance. 

He just needed to catch Daichi Sawamura, an infamous conman with an even more famously long record of jobs than his name. 

No big deal. 

As they shuffled after Daichi, unbeknownst to them, Suga was watching them out of the corner of his eye from Asahi’s hotel room through the computer screen. 

He was surprised they spotted him so soon, but then again, Daichi was looking to be caught. He wasn’t really trying to be incognito or anything, that confident son of a bitch. 

Suga sighed and shook his head, chuckling lightly.

“Something the matter, Suga-san?” Nishinoya asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Suga. 

The light haired man blinked and turned to Nishinoya, smiling softly, “Oh no, we’re all good here.” He took one last glance at the screen before walking over to the two drivers, putting a hand on both their shoulders, 

“Question is, are you two ready?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! 
> 
> We are finally getting to the good heist-y parts! Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! 
> 
> But thank you to everyone who's read this far, commented, or left a kudos, I really appreciate it! I didn't think people would be that interested, but your encouragement (and my hyperfixiation on both Haikyuu and the Ocean Movies) keeps me going! 
> 
> And thanks again to @RuneOak for beta reading it! The story wouldn't be half as good without your careful reading and corrections, so thank you so much!


	8. Into Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nekoma Heist has finally started, and so far things are going exactly as planned. Suga, Kinoshita, and Narita watch the security cameras anxiously as Hinata and Tsukishima make a move on Kuroo. Meanwhile, Daichi makes plans to say goodbye.

Suga was now pacing back and forth in the hotel room, talking with Nishinoya and Tanaka while Narita and Kinoshita were busy with the security cameras. 

“Okay, when do you make the deposit?” Suga asked, looking up at Tanaka and Nishinoya who were busy unbuttoning their white housekeeper shirts. 

“Uh, when we get your signal,” Nishinoya responded, taking off his shirt and scrunching it into a ball before tossing it onto the table. 

Tanaka laughed, doing the same before flexing for good measure, “Yeah, what do you think we are? Amateurs?” 

Suga sighed and shook his head, walking over to their shirts and picking them up to neatly fold them before handing the two shirtless men their own bags with their new suits, Nekoma money handler uniforms that had been dropped off by Kiyoko an hour before the heist initially kicked off. 

The two took the bags eagerly and shuffled into the other room to change. Suga turned around to his tech guys, his hands on the back of their chairs as they shared a meal. 

“Hinata already got to Kuroo?” Suga asked, looking over the screens. 

Kinoshita nodded, his mouth full of food. 

“Yup,” Narita confirmed verbally, lifting a spoonful of his sushi omelette to Suga’s open mouth. 

“Hmm,” Suga hummed, taking the food gratefully before stepping back to give the skeptical Kageyama a look for himself. 

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes as he stepped closer to the monitors. Sure enough, Hinata was walking alongside Kuroo, engaged in a conversation.

Kageyama pulled away, slightly impressed that Hinata had actually remained inconspicuous enough to get Kuroo’s attention. He only hoped that Hinata could now follow through. His life kinda depended on it. 

“Alright!” came Tanaka’s cheer. “We’re ready to go!”

He and Nishinoya stepped back into the room, this time they were sporting the maroon colored suits that the money handlers and security guards wore, along with the black tie and white undershirt. 

Nishinoya had ruffled his hair, causing it to slick down a little, making him look shorter than before as some sort of quick disguise, just in case someone noticed him from his two previous roles. While Tanaka had just put on a matching maroon cap that had the black cat logo of the Nekoma as his disguise. 

“Alright, you ready to go?” Suga asked Kageyama, turning to face him. 

Kageyama glanced at the computer laptops before looking at the others and nodding. 

Suga walked over to the cart and held the back as Kageyama walked up to it, effortlessly lifting himself over the opening and sliding in with little to no difficulty, as if he didn’t have a bandaged hand. 

Suga whistled, impressed. 

He looked up at the others who were wearing similar expressions before grinning, “The King of Greasemen everyone.” 

Kageyama huffed at the title, causing Suga to look down, 

“You alright? Comfy?”

Kageyama gave him a blank look. 

Suga cleared his throat and nodded, “Right.” He looked up at the others and drew a breath, “okay, thirty seconds of breathing time starts...now.” He dropped in a little oxygen breathing tank made by Ennoshita, before closing the lid over the cart. 

Tanaka suddenly looked concerned, staring at the cart. “Think he’ll be okay?” He asked, looking up at Suga with a frown. 

Suga glanced down at the cart, walking around it before he nodded, “He should be. But you two should hurry, we’re on a timer,” he tapped at his watch. 

The two nodded in understanding, quickly grabbing the back at the cart and rushing out of the hotel room. 

“Don’t run!” Suga shouted after them. 

He sighed and pulled out a chair, plopping down in it while Kinoshita and Narita glanced at each other in concern before looking back at Suga. 

“I need another piece of that omelette,” Suga muttered, reaching for a fork, “please and thank you.” 

***

“Is there something happening that I should be concerned about?” Kuroo asked as he followed Hinata into Pit 11, doing his best not to walk so fast since the man was rather small. 

“Uh, y-yeah,” Hinata nodded, pushing up his slipping glasses before stopping abruptly, a few paces away from Tsukishima’s table. 

Hinata glanced at Tsukishima, trying to get the blonde’s eye. It wasn’t working though, Hinata wondered if Tsukishima was purposefully not making eye contact (he was) so he turned to Kuroo and cleared his throat. 

“You probably have seen me around the casino recently-”

“I have,” Kuroo nodded, snapping his fingers, “I was going to ask you about that.” 

Hinata blinked and then swallowed. So Kuroo had noticed him. 

“-well, uh, I was monitoring that blonde over there,” he tossed his head back towards Tsukishima who was calling out cards as he flipped them over. 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, his gaze slowly moving from Hinata over to Tsukishima’s table. 

Hinata sighed a mental breath of relief, at the sight of Kuroo’s suspicion leaving his face once Hinata had cleared up, well, lied, about why he had been at the casino a few times before now. 

To be honest, it was half a lie. He was monitoring someone every time he was hanging around the casino game floor, but it wasn’t Tsukishima (and it wasn’t always Daichi, he still thought Kenma was pretty). 

“What’s the matter with that guy?” Kuroo asked, looking back at Hinata, “we just hired him a few weeks ago.” 

“Well,” Hinata drew a breath, “it came to our attention that he’s got a pretty big record. Like, well, not as big as me because I’m short but-” Hinata realized he was rambling and immediately shut up, glancing awkwardly away before shaking his head, “anyways, yeah, it’s...it’s a record.” 

Kuroo’s eyebrow quirked up as he eyed Hinata before he brought his wrist up to his mouth, muttering something into it before drawing it back and putting his hand on his hip. 

Hinata blinked, hoping that he just made the call for someone to retrieve Tsukishima for them and he hadn’t called a guard to come and get Hinata. 

“So how long have you been at the Commission?” Kuroo asked, snapping Hinata out of his thoughts. 

Hinata took his eyes off of Tsukishima, to glance up at Kuroo, “Oh, uh,” he smoothed out his tie, “about ten months now, I’m fairly new.” 

“Mhh,” Kuroo nodded, “a rookie, huh?”

Hinata gave a nervous chuckle, “Something of the sort, yes.”

“Well, do you know Suguru Daisho? Work with him at all?” Kuroo asked, tilting his head, his eyes studying Hinata closely. 

Hinata froze up a bit, his mind racing to respond. Luckily, he kept Suga’s words of advice in mind and stared straight ahead, careful not to glance anywhere else that would give away his lies, 

“Oh, no,” he responded, “not since he died last year.” 

Kuroo blinked, a little surprised at that answer. He drew his gaze away from Hinata, missing the orange haired man close his eyes tightly and mutter, “Stupid!” under his breath. 

“Well,” Kuroo muttered, “the snake probably deserved it.” 

Hinata opened his eyes quickly, his head turning towards Kuroo in surprise. Did he actually get it right? Was that not a test? Did he do good?

Kuroo cleared his throat and motioned ahead of him. 

Hinata raised an eyebrow in confusion before he realized Kuroo was motioning to two people approaching them and he quickly turned, meeting Tsukishima’s eyes. 

“Oh!” Hinata blinked several times, “Uh, Tomura Shigaraki?”

Tsukishima raised a condescending eyebrow, “Yes?”

“Uh, Sargent Sugimura, Nevada Gaming Commission.” Hinata introduced, just as they had rehearsed.

Tsukishima looked back and forth between Hinata and Kuroo, fighting back a smile at the sheer size difference of the two. 

He managed to pull a straight face, shaking his head in confusion, “What’s going on here?” 

“Well,” Hinata pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat, “it’s come to our attention that when you applied to this position you-”

Kuroo stepped between them, holding a hand up, “I think it would be better if we spoke somewhere else?”

Hinata glanced around the bustling crowd before looking back at Kuroo and nodded, “Uh, y-yeah, that seems like a great idea.” 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, shaking his head softly as Kuroo gave a nod and turned to the guy who was standing next to Tsukishima, holding onto the blonde’s arm to make sure Tsukishima didn’t try to bolt away or anything. 

“Yamamoto?” Kuroo directed towards the other guy who was currently holding onto Tsukishima. 

The semi bald hair man gave a nod before letting go of Tsukishima, allowing him to follow Hinata and Kuroo off the game floor as he stepped back and went to his regular duty of making sure no one was causing trouble.

“Follow me,” Kuroo motioned, waving his hand in the air with a sigh as he started walking to one of the security personnel rooms. 

Hinata and Tsukishima glanced at each other, Tsukishima glaring and Hinata swallowing, before they followed after Kuroo. 

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi watched it all happen from afar. Of course, he was still decking and shuffling cards, still giving people a sweet smile and happy cheers whenever they won, but as soon as he lost sight of the back of Tsukishima’s head he leaned over the table and started to collect all the cards. 

“Alright, sorry folks, I’m going on break now,” he informed, stacking the cards up neatly. 

There were some groans of protest, to which he chuckled,    


“Don’t worry, someone else will take my place. You can all just sit here and wait a few seconds.” 

He gave them one last smile and wave before he left the table, a new dealer stepping in and picking everyone up from where they had left off. 

Yamaguchi sighed in relief, rubbing his forehead with the back of his wrist as he made his way to the dealer’s room. 

Once inside, he changed quickly, some casual clothes that wouldn’t make him stand out, and quickly headed out the back door with a bag of clothes on his shoulder into a car left by Ukai to wait. 

He hoped that Hinata and Tsukishima could pull this off. 

***

Daichi had to stop a few times, just so that he wouldn’t physically run into Kenma, as the young man was stopped several times by different employees for god knows what. Daichi only hoped that it didn’t contain matters that he and his team were involved in, but he was never close enough to hear anything. 

While he was watching Kenma chat with a bushy eyebrowed man, Daichi felt a tap on his shoulder and for a moment he went stiff, thinking that it was the guards who had finally come to get him, but he soon relaxed when he realized how gentle the touch was. 

“Kiyoko,” He said softly, smiling in relief as he turned to face his old friend. 

She looked back at him with blank grey eyes behind pink glasses, her hair was sleek and shiny as ever, styled over her shoulder as a loose ponytail. 

“Hello, Daichi,” she greeted with her usual small smile. 

“You look lovely,” He commented, observing her uniform red dress with black stitching down the sides. 

“Your tie,” she pointed to the untied bow tie hanging around his neck. 

He chuckled and shrugged, “It’s been a long day.” 

“Well, it’s only starting,” Kiyoko observed, pushing up her glasses, “so far so good?”

Daichi extended his arm and she took it, locking their elbows, “Ah, I believe so. No sirens or cops yet.” 

He hadn’t seen Kiyoko since he had arrived back from jail. Sure, she had been in contact with them throughout their planning process, occasionally dropping things off for them, whether it be uniforms or information that she managed to snatch from her fellow employees. However, every time she came, Daichi always seemed to miss her. 

He knew she didn’t like to hang around for long, she was a professional and knew that she would just draw attention to them since she would have to be working at certain times. So he understood. 

“Nishinoya and Tanaka haven’t hunted you down yet, have they?” Daichi asked with a chuckle. 

The tip of her ears turned a light pink and Daichi saw her hesitate a bit, biting down on the insides of her cheeks before she let a small chuckle escape as she shook her head. “I hope they’re professional enough to know that coming to see me during the job is a bad idea.” 

“Yeah,” Daichi nodded, “I’d hope so too.”

“I will go and see them later though,” she said in her usual quiet voice, “eventually.” 

Daichi smiled, “I’m sure they would like that.” 

Kiyoko didn’t say anything else as they walked, Kenma had stopped talking with the bushy eyebrowed man and had moved on, headed towards one of the restaurants and she and Daichi loosely followed, unaware of the pair following them. 

“Kiyoko-san?” Lev exclaimed, seeing their new front desk assistant meet up with Daichi. 

Yaku blinked and stopped in his tracks, “That’s very suspicious,” he held out a hand to stop Lev, the other running straight into it with an ‘oof!’ 

“Let’s wait here,” he instructed, watching as the two followed Kenma into the restaurant, “we can get him once he exits the place.” 

Lev blinked and looked down at Yaku. He opened his mouth to protest, but remembered the pain in his side and decided against it, closing his mouth and looking ahead to catch the glimpse of Daichi and Kiyoko walking into the restaurant. 

Once inside, Kiyoko and Daichi stopped at the entrance and looked around for Kenma. They spotted him talking to one of the waiters and glanced at each other before Daichi nodded and started towards him, Kiyoko walking alongside him. 

“Kenma,” Daichi said gently, not wanting to startle him.

However, the man still jumped slightly, the waiter walking away. He spun around and looked at Daichi with wide eyes, 

“Y-you-”

He stopped, noticing Kiyoko with her arms linked with Daichi. The familiar friendly face seemed to make him relax a bit, the tension leaving his shoulders, but there was still a look of hostility and uneasiness in his expression. 

“Why are you with him?” He asked Kiyoko, pointing at Daichi. 

Kiyoko gave Daichi’s arm a pat and Kenma a gentle smile, “He’s an old friend. I was their manager for volleyball for our third year. I didn’t really expect you to notice me after all these years.” 

Daichi gave a nod, “Yes, I didn’t know she was working here. It was quite the surprise.” 

Kenma made a face, glaring at the two of them slightly now. 

“What do you want?” He questioned, quietly, glancing between the two of them. 

Daichi shook his head and chuckled, “Relax, I’m not here to hurt you or anything, I just wanted you to give Kuroo a message.” 

Kenma raised an eyebrow, “A message?” 

Daichi gave a nod, “I met Kiyoko at the front desk, I was just about to check out when I spotted her. We chatted a bit and I realized that I should leave Kuroo a message. She said she could take me to him, but he seems to be busy at the moment with the NGC so she took me to the next best person.” He flashed Kenma a charming smile, but it had no effect on the man. 

“What kind of message?” Kenma asked, just wanting to get to the point. 

“A goodbye message.” Daichi answered simply. 

There was a silence, Kenma taking a step back and blinking at the sudden coldness in Daichi’s voice. 

“I just wanted to say goodbye and that I wish him the best in his endeavors to take over the Las Vegas Strip.” Daichi unlinked his arm with Kiyoko and took a step closer to Kenma, causing the other to freeze. 

“Is...Is that it?” Kenma muttered, glancing down. 

Daichi shrugged, “That’s the basics of it. I decided it would be best to keep it straight-forward and short.” 

He reached out and put a hand on Kenma’s shoulder, making the other tense up, his eyes glancing up at Daichi to see what he was going to do. 

“Thanks Kenma,” Daichi smiled, giving his shoulder a squeeze, “it was nice seeing you.” He gave a nod before he pulled back, stepping back next to Kiyoko. 

Kenma let out a breath, shaking a little, but looking rather unbothered overall. Daichi surely had given him quite a scare, but if he was really checking out, then he shouldn’t have anything to worry about. He’d give Kuroo the message, if he could remember, but getting rid of Daichi was the first priority. 

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Daichi chuckled, clapping his hands together, “I best be on my way.” He turned to Kiyoko and smiled, taking her hand with both his hands and giving it a squeeze. 

“It’ll probably be a while till I see you again,” he admitted, “have fun here.” 

She gave a smile and a nod, “Stay safe, Daichi.”

Daichi laughed and looked at Kenma, swallowing the bitter taste of jealousy at the thought of this man with Kuroo. He should be happy for them. They deserved each other. 

“Kenma,” he nodded. 

Kenma gave a nod in return and didn’t say anything. 

Daichi took that as his cue and sighed before turning to the entrance of the restaurant, giving Kiyoko one last smile before he started walking. 

Kiyoko watched him leave for a bit, taking note of the lanky Russian and short man approaching him before she turned back to Kenma, 

“Sorry about that, Kenma-san,” she apologized, “we go back so I thought it would be nice of me to fulfill his request.” 

Kenma shook his head and waved his hand, dismissing it, “No, it’s alright. So long as he’s leaving, we’re alright.” 

He looked up and saw the rookie guard, Lev, approach with Yaku, blocking Daichi from the exit. He groaned a bit at the sight of Lev, but figured that the silver-haired man was doing him a service, for once, and not a disservice by escorting Daichi out. 

He shifted his gaze from them and looked back at Kiyoko, “Do you know where Kuroo is?”

She shook her head. 

“I’ll just wait here then,” he muttered, sitting down on one of the bar stools. 

She gave a small smile before making an excuse to go back to work, waving goodbye before leaving Kenma alone at the bar counter. 

Lev and Yaku had slowly made their way to the entrance of the restaurant as their target chatted with Kenma, they only saw him step away from Kenma, which seemed to alarm Lev who almost took off into the restaurant to grab Daichi, had it not been for Yaku grabbing the back of his coat and yanking him back. 

After a few seconds of arguing, they finally got a hold of themselves because Daichi was approaching them, seemingly unaware of them. 

“Block his way,” Yaku commanded, seeing that Daichi was already taller than him. 

Lev nodded, “Right,” he folded his arms menacingly and did his best to glare. 

“I’ll do the talking this time,” Yaku told Lev before Daichi stopped in front of them, raising an eyebrow. 

“Mr. Sawamura?” Yaku questioned. 

Daichi looked between them, before answering with a nod, “Yes?”

“Mr. Kuroo would like to have a chat with you.” Yaku expressed, Lev nodding furiously next to him. 

Daichi let out a small chuckle as he shook his head, “I thought he would…” 

“Follow us,” Yaku demanded, tossing his head to the side to motion Daichi to follow after them. 

“Yeah! Follow us,” Lev added with a too happy smile. 

Yaku groaned and shook his head, Daichi gave an amused grin, but complied, following after them. 

He had a feeling he wouldn’t be seeing Kuroo any time soon though. 

***

Kuroo had taken them away from the main casino and down a couple of halls and every time they had passed a camera in the hallways, Hinata always glanced at them, hoping that their tech guys still had eyes on him and Tsukishima. Finally, they came into an empty room. If Hinata had any guess, it seemed to be a room where they had meetings.

Once inside the room, Kuroo flicked on the lights and had Tsukishima take a seat at a chair at an extensive table while Hinata stood at the head of the table, fumbling with a file full of doctored papers containing information on Tsukishima. 

Behind him stood Kuroo, arms folded, eyes locked on Tsukishima, his foot tapping every once in a while, making Hinata tense. He really had to milk this, him and Tsukishima. Though he didn’t doubt the other’s skills, he was uncertain if Tsukishima was capable of his full potential. He always seemed to hold back in rehearsals and when giving information. It was a wonder why they even let Tsukishima continue working the job. But Hinata couldn’t deny, the man was really good at playing the insider. 

“Good evening Mr.Shigaraki,” Hinata drew a shaky breath and set a file down in front of Tsukishima, making sure to establish dominance by throwing the file down hard onto the table, “or should I say, Mr.Plisetsky?”

Tsukishima made sure to freeze up, his eyes on the file. He could feel Hinata and Kuroo both looking at him, one with real intensity, and the other with an amusingly intense expression. And even though Hinata made him want to laugh, he had to hold it in, swallowing to show that he was nervous. 

“You are Yuri Plisetsky, right?” Hinata questioned, “Formerly of the Ice Castle Hasetsu, are you not?”

Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, slowly closing his eyes and exhaling. He had to give Hinata some credit. This wasn’t something he had practiced before, it was brought about suddenly just hours before the heist, but he was still doing the best to his abilities to make sure that the job got finished. There was something admirable in that, but for god’s sake, Tsukishima wasn’t going to say that out loud. 

Hinata waited a few seconds before nodding, “I take it from your silence that you’re not going to deny that…” He shook his head and sighed, turning to Kuroo. “Mr. Kuroo, I’m going to give it to you straight. The man came from Japan on a worker’s permit, but some digging shows that he has ties to the Russians. Not to mention, that worker’s permit? It doesn’t actually exist.” 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Tsukishima as Hinata continued to explain,

“I’m sorry to say, but you’ve been employing an illegal immigrant, and as you know the NGC-”

“Do you have a problem with me, Mr. Whatever-your-name-was?” Tsukishima spoke up, opening his eyes and turning in his chair to glare at Hinata. 

Hinata froze up a bit and slowly turned back around, blinking. “I’m sorry? What?” he stuttered out.

“I asked if you had a problem with me,” Tsukishima repeated, fighting back a grin because he was going to have so much fun with this. 

“I don’t think I understand what you’re trying to say,” Hinata laughed nervously, “I don’t have a problem. I-I’m just trying to do my job, sir-”

“Where’s the proof, huh?” He asked, throwing up his hands, “I’m just about as Japanese as the two of you are!” 

“W-well, well, I mean-” Hinata pushed up his glasses, “you do have blonde hair-”

Tsukishima scoffed, folding his arms, “Like you don’t have red-hair.” He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something in Japanese about Hinata being dumb. 

“Look, it’s not something personal, but the facts don’t lie,” Hinata pointed at the file with the papers peeking out, “and under Article, uh, twenty-seven, code, erm, five-a states that in Nevada you can’t employ-”

“Don’t you say it,” Tsukishima pointed a finger at Hinata, making the other squeak, “not everyone has the luxury of being able to grow up here and get good education and opportunities in life! You should at least know that, shortie!” 

“Technically, I grew up in Los Angeles,” Hinata muttered under his breath before shaking his head and turning to Kuroo, “Mr. Kuroo, you know that we have respect for our fellow immigrants so long as they come here legally and aren’t bad people.”

“Oh so now you’re saying that immigrants are bad people?” 

“No, I’m just-”

“Just what? Honestly, why did they send in a rookie to come get me? If you are all so worried about who you hire and who you don’t hire, why didn’t they send someone capable?” Tsukishima laughed drily. 

Hinata blinked, watching Tsukishima stare him down. There was the slight nod of Tsukishima’s head and the impatient taps of his fingers on the table started to speed up, so Hinata took that as a cue. 

“Wow, your English is really good.” 

“That’s it!” Tsukishima exclaimed in Japanese, pushing himself up from the table and towards Hinata. 

The red head’s eyes widened and he almost didn’t react fast enough, but luckily he was able to spin around and scurry behind Kuroo and use him as a shield between him and Tsukishima. 

“Hey, hey!” Kuroo declared, holding his hands out to defuse the situation with an amused look. “Come on, relax everyone.” He instructed, looking back and forth between the two men. 

Tsukishima stopped right in front of him, catching Kuroo’s eye for a second before quickly looking away and staring daggers at Hinata, praying that he gave Hinata the opportunity he needed and that Hinata actually took the opportunity. 

Because when Hinata had scrambled back behind Kuroo, he had slipped his nimble hand into Kuroo’s coat, pulling out the black folder he had seen Kuroo tuck away earlier with ease. 

Hinata had gotten the codes. 

Kuroo didn’t even notice, his eyes on Tsukishima as Hinata cowered behind him, stuffing the folder into his own coat pocket. 

“Sit down,” he instructed Tsukishima, his hands held out in front of him. 

Tsukishima gave Hinata one last glare before he backed down, looking back at Kuroo. “You better talk to him,” he mumbled in Japanese, “he can’t be going around like that.” 

Kuroo only gave a nod and an exasperated sigh as Hinata collected himself from behind him. He straightened his clothes and fixed his now crooked glasses, doing his best to distract himself so that he didn’t give anything away. Because if he could, Hinata would be beaming and shouting because he  _ finally  _ got to do something. 

And he did it right.

Tsukishima took his seat again, pushing away the file, looking salty as ever. Hinata walked over and collected the file, tapping it onto the table a few times to straighten out the papers before he tucked it under his arm. 

“Well, um,” he cleared his throat, taking a large step away from the table and next to Kuroo, “now that that’s settled, I can discuss what to do with him next.” He turned to look at Kuroo, “We have a car waiting for him outside, if there’s a way you can have someone escort him there-?”

Kuroo nodded, waving his hand in the air before he talked into his wrist like Hinata had seen him done before, no doubt calling some guard to come and retrieve Tsukishima.  They had done it. 

Hinata glanced back at Tsukishima and gave a little grin. 

Tsukishima scoffed and rolled his eyes, looking away so that Hinata couldn’t see his little smile. 

***

“He got the codes,” Suga claimed, his arms folded as his eyes were glued onto the screen with the camera trained on the three of them in the meeting room. 

Narita blinked in confusion, turning around to look at Suga, “He got it? When?” 

“Yeah,” Kinoshita spoke up, “I didn’t see anything, how did he-?”

“When Tsukishima lunged at him,” Suga explained with an impressed grin, “he pocketed Kuroo.” 

Kinoshita and Narita looked at each other, wondering how the hell Suga was able to pick up on such a quick and subtle action. 

“Well,” Narita chuckled, “you are a pro. You would know.” 

Suga nodded, “Yes I am.” He leaned over and picked up the microphone, “Alright, Hinata has the codes. Tanaka and Nishinoya you’re up.” 

From several floors down, Tanaka and Nishinoya stepped out of the elevator in their hotel uniforms, pushing the money cart that contained Kageyama, folded in half like some sort of Japanese styled taco.

“You ready?” Tanaka asked Nishinoya as they headed towards two guards in front of a security door. 

Nishinoya let out a laugh, “Ha! I was born ready!” 

Tanaka grinned widely, gripping the cart a little tighter as they wheeled it closer, “Alright, let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was probably the shortest chapter so far! I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless though! 
> 
> Big thank you to everyone who's made it this far and for @RuneOak for beta reading this again! I really appreciate all of you! I honestly can't wait for the end of it, so stay tuned! See you next Friday!


	9. Karasuno, Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heist has kicked off, Nishinoya and Tanaka get ready to deliver Kageyama while Hinata starts on his mission to get to the vault without screwing up. Asahi, Narita, Kinoshita, and Suga watch anxiously at the cameras, but some more anxiously than others. Meanwhile, Daichi meets an old friend and commits a daring escape! At least, he would like to call it that.

Inuoka and Shibayama were standing at their usual post, hands folded in front of them, eyes trained on the crowd ahead, waiting for something to come up. They hadn’t had any action for the past week and they were starting to get a bit antsy 

“Oh, heads up,” Inuoka muttered, glancing towards Shibayama before nodding toward the approaching duo with the money cart once he had met Inuoka’s eyes.

Shibayama raised an eyebrow and checked his watch. It was a little early and he didn’t recognize these two, so it was pretty suspicious right off the bat. He glanced over at Inuoka to see if he had also noticed these details, but the eager young man seemed unfazed. He wore a bright smile, as if he was delighted to greet them. 

So, Shibayama sighed and shook his head, deciding against it. He was new anyway, so not recognizing these guys was probably on him for being at the Nekoma for only a few months. He would let this slide. 

As they approached, he and Inuoka stepped to the side, so that they could get through, but instead of taking out their security card, swiping it and entering through the door, the shorter one stopped and let go of the cart with a frown. 

“I forgot my card,” he uttered, patting down his sides frantically. 

The other stopped and turned to look at him in disbelief. “You what?”

“I forgot my card,” he repeated with a groan, closing his eyes in embarrassment. “I must have left it-”

“Why would you do that?” yelled the taller one, throwing his hands in the air. 

The other shrugged, shaking his head as he held his hands out, palm up in surrender. “I don’t know! I’m so sorry!” 

“How could you forget it? Are you that stupid?” 

“You’re calling me stupid? That hat is stupid!” 

“Why you-”

Shibayama and Inuoka’s eyes were practically bulging out of their head at these two, the both of them looking back and forth at each other, unsure what to do because now they were causing a scene. The smaller guard had his hands up and the one with a hat was rolling up his sleeves, the both of them yelling at each other and causing people to stop and stare. 

“Guys, hey guys!” Shibayama managed to get out, frantically stepping forward to try and diffuse the two, “H-hey, guys!” 

Inuoka blinked before shaking his head and also jumping into action, standing alongside Shibayama and holding out his arm, blocking the hat guy from doing anything to the other guy. 

“Guys, we can just-” Inuoka tried, “-we can just-”

“How could you forget a card? It’s strapped onto you!” 

“I don’t know! But I don’t see you pulling out your card and using it!” 

“This is about you and your problem!” 

“YOU BI-”

“GUYS!” Inuoka shouted, looking more embarrassed than angry. He glanced back and forth between them, “Just..just calm down, we can open the door.” He pointed to the card hanging from his front shirt pocket. 

Shibayama nodded, “Yeah, please just, keep it down. We don’t want a scene.” He glanced nervously at the small crowd that had formed at the sound of loud yelling, nosey gamblers who wanted to see what was up. 

The two cart dealers looked at each other before visibly relaxing. They nodded and sighed, one of them fixing his hat and rolling his sleeves back down, and the other walked back to the cart, the both of them muttering under their breaths about how they were sorry. 

“Just don’t forget the card again,” Inuoka chuckled awkwardly, sliding his card and grabbing the door. 

“Ha, yeah,” the shorter one nodded, “next time.” 

Shibayama put a hand on the cart, “Where did this come from anyway?” He looked up at the two, eyes slightly narrowed since he was still a little suspicious, but glad that it was over. 

“High rollers,” the one with the hat answered, tapping the top of the cart, “it’s Kuroo-san’s stuff.” 

Shibayama looked down at the cart for a bit before sighing and figuring it would be better to make sure that Kuroo’s things got to where they needed to be, or else he could be in real trouble. 

“Okay, thanks,” Shibayama nodded, rolling the cart over and passing it to Inuoka, “This goes into the vault, it’s Kuroo-Senpai’s things.” 

Inouka gave a thumbs up and a smile before taking the cart and turning to the both of them. “Thanks for the cart, but try not to cause such a scene if something goes wrong.” 

The two glanced at each other before giving a nod. 

“Yeah,” the short one rubbed the back of his neck, slowly walking backwards, “we’ll try next time.” 

The one with the hat held out his hands, following his companion, “Sorry about causing a scene.” 

Once they were a few feet away and the small crowd had dispersed, he and Nishinoya spun around and started to the elevator that they had come from with large grins on their faces. 

Behind them, Shibayama scratched his head in confusion before he turned away from the backs of the two guards and stepped back to his post as Inuoka rolled the cart down the hallway, the door closing behind him. 

“I can’t believe that worked,” Nishinoya giggled, pressing the elevator button as the two prepared to head back to Asahi’s room for one last costume change. 

Tanaka snickered and gave a nod, “I told you they were rookies! They let us right through!” 

“Yeah, but Tsukishima told you that they were rookies.” Nishinoya recalled, pointing his finger at Tanaka. 

The other waved his hand in the air, “Psh, no.” He then clasped his hands together and brought them up to his face with a sigh, rubbing them against his cheek, “It was Kiyoko-san.”

Nishinoya gasped, “You talked to her?? When?” 

Tanaka dropped his hands, a smug look on his face as he entered, “A few days ago.”

“Aw man!” Nishinoya groaned, tugging at his hair and he walked into the elevator after Tanaka, slumped over with a pout. “Lucky you…”

Tanaka beamed, “Hell yeah, lucky me! You were too busy hanging out with Asahi though, you missed her.” 

The elevator doors closed and Nishinoya huffed, leaning forward to push the button to Asahi’s floor. Tanaka glanced over and patted his back as they started their climb.

“You’ll see her after this job bro, don’t worry.” Tanaka encouraged, “And we’ll be rich!” 

Nishinoya blinked, looking up at his brother from another mother. “Thanks bro, but didn’t Suga tell us not to discuss these things when there’s-” he leaned forward, covering his mouth and pointing up at the camera in the corner of the elevator, “-cameras?” 

Tanaka’s eyes widened and he quickly pulled away, remembering that Suga had said that. “You’re right,” he muttered, “act normal.” He put his hands behind his back and started whistling while looking around the elevator. 

Nishinoya looked around frantically before deciding to just fold his arms and lean across the elevator door before it finally opened and he stumbled out, waving his hands for balance. 

Tanaka caught his arm and hoisted him back on track and the two of them grinned before sprinting towards Asahi’s room with echoing laughter. 

They were having so much fun. 

***

Someone who wasn’t having as much fun was Azumane Asahi, who was currently still in the security room, gripping the railing till his knuckles were white. 

His job was just to stay here as long as possible and make sure that the cart with Kageyama and his briefcase made it into the vault, or else they would have some trouble. 

But it had been awhile since he’d played such a role and he felt the immense pressure to perform weigh down on his shoulders, making it hard for him to stand up right. It also didn’t help that he felt like he was suffocating, a direct result from being in an enclosed room, who knows how deep down, surrounded by security guards’ watchful eyes. 

He was able to take a breather though when he saw a brown haired man walk into the vault and wheel Kageyama’s cart into it, placing it next to three other carts that were already at the center of the vault. 

But then he realized that they were on a timer and that Kageyama might die so he inhaled sharply and gripped the rail a little tighter, his sunglasses starting to fog up from the heat leaving his face. 

He had to tell himself that Kageyama was okay, that they wouldn’t let him die, and that they would be able to finish this job and get out of here alive and richer than before. 

At least he hoped. 

“Okay, Mr. Arthur,” the kind voice of Kai approached him, walking over to the rail before stopping next to Asahi, “your briefcase should be arriving shortly.”

“Perfect,” Asahi managed, giving a nod. He avoided looking at Kai, instead he stared down at his knuckles, his mind racing.

Kai blinked, tilting his head, “Is something wrong, Mr-”

Asahi held up a hand and shook his head, “Nothing’s wrong. I just-” Asahi paused, trying to think of a reasonable excuse for his behavior since he was supposed to be playing some badass mafia member. Anxiety wasn’t going to cut it. 

“I’m just,” Asahi cleared his throat, “I haven’t been feeling too good recently. I took a uh, pill, before I arrived.” He turned to look at Kai finally, “If you get what I mean.”

A silent, ‘ah’ and a nod of understanding came from Kai and Asahi was able to get away with his half lie. He had taken a pill, but it was to ease his anxiety, and from what was happening now, it was obvious that it hadn’t kicked in yet. 

“Well, anyways, Mr. Arthur, there’s your briefcase,” Kai directed Asahi’s gaze to the vault security camera screen where a short dark haired man placed the case on top of the carts in the middle. 

“Oh,” Asahi uttered. 

He had placed it right on top of Kageyama’s cart. 

“Is that satisfactory?” Kai asked. 

Asahi swallowed before nodding, wiping some sweat away, “Oh, y-yes. I mean, yeah. That works, thanks.” 

Kageyama could work around that, right? He could do it? That wouldn’t be a problem, right?

God, Asahi hoped so. 

***

Back at the hotel room, Suga had given Nishinoya and Tanaka their last set of costumes for the night as he watched the screen alongside Narita and Kinoshita, their eyes glued onto the vault camera. 

“And, we’re...good.” Kinoshita announced with a grin, watching as the brown haired guard rolled the cart into the vault. “Kageyama’s in!” 

Narita and him high-fived, Suga nodded with a smile, so far so good. 

“Alright,” Suga pushed himself away from the two, walking around the table and picking up his disguise, “that’s my cue. I’m going to get ready and-”

“Hold on,” Narita held up a hand, now frowning, “look what they did…” He muttered, pointing at the screen. 

Kinoshita leaned forward as Suga made his way back to the table, his hands on his tie. 

“Oh no,” Kinoshita sighed, shaking his head, “they put the case on Kageyama’s cart.” 

Suga frowned, that was a problem. 

“You think it’ll be a problem?” Narita asked, turning to look at Suga. 

Suga licked his lips before giving him a grin, “No,” he shook his head, “no problem. Kageyama-kun can handle it.” 

His hands worked on his tie, something he could do in his sleep, slowly stepping away from the monitor. “Well, anyway,” he said, pulling the wide end through the loop, “that’s my cue. You boys know what to do, right?”

Kinoshita nodded and Narita gave Suga a thumbs up. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll hold down the house over here.” 

Suga pointed at Kinoshita as he grabbed a lab coat that was hanging on the back of a chair, “Call Ennoshita, ask him about his status. He should be fixing up the pinch right now.” 

Kinoshita gave a nod and grabbed a nearby walkie talkie before clicking it on, static filling the room before Kinoshita pushed a button and started to talk. 

“Hey, Ennoshita, what’s your status?” 

The static voice of Ennoshita came on the walkie talkie a few seconds later.

“I’m on my way, just got off the main road.” 

Suga was tucking his hair into a net as he plopped on a brown wig while Kinoshita put the walkie talkie aside. 

“He’s almost there,” Kinoshita responded, “it shouldn’t take him long to get to the empty lot. It’s setting it up that’ll take some time.” 

Suga inhaled sharply, slapping on some fake glasses, “We don’t have too much time.”

“I-i’m sure he knows,” Narita stammered, smiling nervously. 

Suga returned the nervous smile, shrugging, “Sure, let’s go with that.” He then spun around to meet Tanaka and Nishinoya, back from their final costume change. 

“Alright, you guys ready?”

They nodded. 

Suga beamed, “Excellent! Let’s go!” He motioned them to follow before turning around and giving the tech table a thumbs up before he and their two drivers headed out of the hotel room, leaving Kinoshita and Narita alone. 

Kinoshita sighed and turned back to the camera while Narita leaned back, closed one of his eyes and put his hands on his chest. 

“You got the footage ready?” Narita asked, looking at Kinoshita through one eye. 

Kinoshita nodded, clicking away at his mouse, “It’s pulled up.” 

“Now,” Narita sighed, “we wait.” 

“And watch cameras,” Kinoshita reminded him. 

Narita nodded, “And watch cameras.”

***

Kuroo had called Yamamoto, his head of security, to escort Tsukishima out and away from the casino. The mohawked man waited outside the room while Kuroo stepped outside, Hinata and Tsukishima following after him, the three of them now in the hallway. 

Hinata glanced awkwardly at Tsukishima as he gradually inched towards Kuroo, a little afraid of what he would try to do if Hinata got too close. He knew it was all an act, but Tsukishima could be very intimidating. 

“Yamamoto,” Kuroo addressed the man standing across from him, “escort this man off the premises, please.” He stepped aside to show Tsukishiima, who was standing behind him. 

Yamamoto nodded and stepped forward, reaching out to grab Tsukishima’s arm. However, Tsuki glared and pulled his arm away, 

“I can walk myself, thank you.” 

Tsukishima walked past Kuroo and Hinata, the latter making eye contact with him for a split second before looking away. 

Kuroo chuckled and shook his head, “You have guts and a pretty face, Mr…”

“Plisetsky,” Hinata coughed behind him. 

“Plisetsky,” Kuroo finished, “I almost feel bad about letting you go.”

Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, “An unfortunate loss for you.” 

He gave the two one last smug smile before he followed Yamamoto down the hall, silently praying that Hinata knew what to do now that he had the codes. He didn’t care too much about Kageyama, if he was being honest, but it wasn’t like he wanted him dead. 

Kuroo watched as the two disappeared down the hall before he glanced down at his watch and frowned, Kenma was probably waiting and Kuroo didn’t want to be late to the game. 

Hinata watched him carefully. “I’m thinking you’ve got somewhere to go?” He motioned to the watch with the slight tilt of his head. 

“Hm, yes, something of the sort,” Kuroo responded in a slight mutter. He sighed and started down the hallway, Hinata scurried after him, his eyes widening a bit, afraid to be left alone for the moment. 

He followed Kuroo for a bit before his eye caught an elevator. He walked a few more minutes before he stopped and groaned, getting Kuroo’s attention. 

“Aw man,” Hinata muttered, running his hand through his hair. He glanced up at Kuroo, the tall man looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, a look of confusion and concern, 

“Something wrong?” 

“I think I dropped my keys somewhere,” Hinata answered with a nervous chuckle. He pointed back to where they came from, slowly walking backwards, “I’ll just, uh, go look for them.” 

Kuroo gave a nod, “Do you know your way out?”

Hinata had already turned around, briskly walking away, 

“Yup!” He called back, lying, “I'm good!” 

Kuroo watched him go before turning around and walking down the hall, this time he picked up his pace. He didn’t want to keep Kenma waiting. 

Meanwhile, Hinata glanced back at Kuroo, making sure he was out of sight before he headed to where he had seen the elevator. 

His heart was thumping in his chest, he could see his coat moving up and down with it, and he could hear it in his ears. He had to swallow to make sure that it wouldn’t jump out of his chest, he was running on adrenaline now. He had gotten the codes and he was about to break into the vault, no biggie.

One impossible thing at a time, he told himself as he rounded the corner, hoping this was the hallway he had spotted the elevator and not the other hallway he had just come from that led to another conference room. 

This was the right hallway, he’d seen that plant before. 

He took another turn and finally he saw the elevator. 

Hinata let out a huge sigh of relief before he did a quick scan of the hallway. Once he saw that it was empty he licked his lips and quietly muttered, “Okay, I have the codes, going to the elevator now.” 

He only hoped that someone had heard him and he wasn’t just making a fool out of himself by muttering into the air. 

But soon the voice of Kinoshita replied, making Hinata flinch, as he wasn’t quite anticipating it. 

“We see you. Head into the elevator and get ready.”

Hinata drew a breath and nodded, pressing the up button firmly before taking a step back. 

One impossible thing after another, he repeated quietly in his head, I’ve got this. 

***

While this was going on, Daichi was still following the two guards down another hall to who knows where. Apparently, if they were telling the truth, they were leading Daichi to Kuroo for a little talk. 

But Daichi was sure that wasn’t the case. 

“Here we go,” the shorter one announced once they rounded a corner and stopped in front of a door. He reached out and opened it, motioning Daichi to go into the room but instead the other one smiled, thinking he was talking to him, and entered the room. 

Daichi chuckled and walked in after the tall one as the shorter one muttered under his breath words Daichi wasn’t willing to repeat. 

He walked to the center of the room and took a quick look around as the door closed behind him. He could feel the two guards watching him closely as he walked around the room before he turned around and took a seat on a chair in the middle of the room. 

He glanced to the left and then the right before he addressed the two with a charming smile. 

The shorter one, standing on the left, didn’t look fazed. He stood in front of the door with his arms folded, an intense look on his face that would’ve been intimidating if it wasn’t for his height. 

The one on the right, the weirdly tall one, was standing with his hands on his hips. Daichi could tell that he was a rookie because he didn’t look as intimidating. He wore a slightly blank look, as if he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. 

Daichi sighed and tapped his wrist, looking around the room. 

“Hm,” he hummed, “no cameras.” he noted, pointing to the corners of the room. 

The tall one blinked and looked around as if he didn’t notice that there weren't any cameras in the room while the other rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t want anyone to see what happens in this room, huh?” Daichi asked with the slight raise of his eyebrows. 

He got no response from either of them, not that he thought that he would get much of a response anyways. 

The room was so quiet, Daichi was sure he could hear his heart thump slowly in his chest. Or was that the ticking of his watch? He wasn’t sure. 

Daichi licked his lips and frowned, “Kuroo’s not meeting me, is he?”

For all Daichi knew, Kuroo was probably meeting up with Kenma and the two of them were heading to the volleyball match. If, and only if, everything was going to plan. 

The short one chuckled and shook his head. 

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, interrupting any answers that would’ve spoken if the tall one was willing. 

Daichi straightened his posture, looking at the door, confident that it wasn’t Kuroo. 

The short one motioned the tall one to open the door, and once he did, he immediately stumbled back, eyes wide. 

The short one opened the door even more and stepped in a large man with short white hair and no eyebrows. 

Daichi swallowed and slowly stood up, his eyes meeting the man’s cold, intimidating gaze. 

“We’ll leave you two to sort things out,” the short one said smugly, pushing the taller one of the room. He gave Daichi a smirk before closing the door behind them, leaving Daichi alone with the tall man. 

The moment the door closed, Daichi was already on the floor with a stinging pain in his jaw. 

“God, Aone!” Daichi groaned, putting his hand on his jaw, opening and closing it to make sure that it still worked, “You’re supposed to do it after!” 

The man frowned and grunted in concern as he kneeled down to help Daichi up. 

Daichi sighed and waved his hand in the air, “No, no, it’s fine, I got it.” He rubbed his jaw, it still worked thankfully, and stood back up. 

He faced the man, hand still on his jaw, “Jeez, you didn’t hold back.” 

Aone muttered a sorry, nervously pulling on the sleeves of his white and teal jacket. 

Daichi shook his head, “It’s fine…How are you?”

He only got a shrug in response and a curious look. Daichi knew the man well enough to know what he wanted, 

“Hinata’s fine,” Daichi assured, taking a seat, “he’s the one getting the codes.” He didn’t tell Aone about last night, afraid that the man would sock him for real if he heard that Daichi had hurt Hinata’s feelings. 

He seemed to be satisfied with the response though, because he wore a small smile and seemed a little less tense. 

“How’s Futakuchi?” Daichi asked, despite knowing that he wasn’t going to get much out of Aone. 

“Fine,” came the gruff response from the old friend. 

Daichi knew Futakuchi because of his business. The so-called “Iron Wall” of Date Tech was a group of thieves who had gotten rich and started their own tech company, led by Futakuchi Kenji himself. 

Aone was one of their guys, and lucky for Daichi, the man had a soft spot for Hinata and happened to be in the area. So after a quick call, and a couple thousand, he was able to get Aone as his ‘meeting negotiator’. 

“Ah, that’s good to hear,” Daichi nodded before moving his hand away from his jaw so that he could carry a chair towards the left side of the room, under a vent. 

“Help me, would you?” He asked, glancing over his shoulder as he stepped up onto the chair. 

Aone walked over and helped boost Daichi up to the vent, using his hands to hoist him up into the vent. 

Daichi pulled out a screwdriver from his suit pocket and started to unscrew the screws before tossing the tool to the side and pushing the vent in. 

He grinned and glanced down at Aone before giving him an ‘okay’ nod. The man gave a push upwards and Daichi was able to pull himself up and into the vent with little difficulty. 

Granted, he was a bit surprised that he was able to fit, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that. 

He coughed a few times, blinking to get his eyes adjusted to the darkness before he called down to Aone, “I’ll tell Hinata you said hi!” 

Daichi didn’t stay to hear a response, he had to hurry or else they would probably pull this off without him and that was something Daichi didn’t want happening, right next to getting caught. 

He went through the directions from Kiyoko in his head, if he had memorized them right he should end up next to the elevators, just in time to meet Hinata. 

***

Asahi was nervously tapping at the railing as he watched a mohawked guard walk down the hall towards the conference room where Hinata and Tsukishima were with Kuroo. 

The camera to the room was on one of the monitor screens, but Asahi couldn’t bring himself to watch it. It wasn’t that he doubted Hinata’s pickpocketing skills or anything, (okay, some of it was that) but he didn’t want to seem too suspicious. 

Because currently he was sweating up a storm and his knuckles were white from gripping the rail too firmly. 

He knew that Kai kept glancing at him every now and then, but Asahi sensed that he was a good man and wouldn’t ask any further questions. 

So why was he so nervous?

Asahi wiped his brow with a shaky breath, watching Hinata and the other two exit the room to meet the mohawk guy in the hallway. He drew a shaky breath and looked away, staring down at his white knuckles. 

“Jesus christ,” he muttered, bowing his head and closing his eyes a bit as he willed his heart to stop racing. 

The mutter seemed to get Kai’s attention, because the man turned to look at Asahi. He wore a frown, clearly concerned, but it was obvious that he didn’t want to say anything because he was intimidated by Asahi. 

Asahi didn’t know if he should be happy or saddened if he was still intimidating, even when he was clearly very nervous. But at least, for now, it was working in his favor. 

“That’s weird,” one of the security guys muttered a few feet away from Asahi, “who’s this guy?”

In alarm, Asahi whipped his head around to see that the man was pointing at a monitor showing Hinata Shoyo rocking back and forth on the balls and heels of his feet, waiting for the elevator. 

His eyes widened when he saw the man lean into the microphone, ready to alert security and in a moment of pure anxiety, Asahi let out a cry, threw his hands up, and his knees gave way under him. 

He hit the floor, hard, and got everyone’s attention almost immediately. The man about to call security was now up and at his side, Kai barked at the others to call 911 while Asahi laid on the floor, his back in pain from the sudden fall. 

He could hear the guards bustling about frantically around him. Someone was checking his pulse, another was lifting his head and stuffing their coat under it, a button was yanking on his ponytail and he almost sat up in pain. Someone had called 911, telling them that they had a man down and needed paramedics to come check on him. 

Asahi closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath, purposefully not responding to Kai’s questions and remained “unconscious” on the floor. 

He hated Suga for knowing that Asahi’s anxiety could come in handy for a distraction, but at least all eyes were off Hinata. 

But  _ jeez  _ did that hurt. 

***

The elevator dinged and Hinata stepped through, clutching his briefcase tightly. 

He turned around before sticking his head out the elevator, looking left and right to make sure no one was coming before he pressed the button to close the doors. 

Once they closed he sighed and backed up into the elevator door, tension leaving his body. He was so grateful to be alone. 

He patted at his coat to make sure he still had the codes and a firm, tap, tap, of a leather folder showed him that he was good. 

Another sigh of relief and he set down the briefcase. Hinata licked his lips in anticipation before pushing up his glasses as he clicked open the case. 

He glanced up at the camera in the corner of the elevator and frowned. 

“Do you have me covered?” He muttered into his comm. 

The staticy voice of Narita answered, “Covered.” Confirming that Hinata was in the clear, that static was only slightly concerning. 

Back in the hotel room, Kinoshita switched the camera feed in the elevator to a normal, empty elevator setting. It was a looped video, one of the oldest tricks in the book but it worked every time. 

Now in the clear, Hinata shedded his coat and tossed it to the side before throwing the slipping glasses along with it. Next came the button up and the pants, revealing a tight black suit with an almost leather like material, complete with it’s own harness. 

“That feels a lot better,” he muttered before looking up at the elevator ceiling. 

He frowned a little before standing up and lifting his hands up. He couldn’t reach, so he reluctantly went on his tippy toes. When that didn’t work he cursed and jumped up instead, successfully knocking the panel loose to reveal the inside of the elevator shaft. 

He exhaled and went back to the briefcase, taking out the lining and tossing it aside into the pile of clothes, revealing several tools that would help him into the vault. The explosives, the remote for the explosives, glow sticks, and two wire cables. 

Hinata blinked, confused as to why there were two. Perhaps Suga packed them as a just in case? He was always thinking ahead. Hinata was honestly surprised that a little note with a smiley face and a ‘You got this!’ scribbled on it wasn’t included. 

Now with the briefcase ready to go, Hinata turned back up to the open elevator ceiling and screamed bloody murder. 

“Oh my GODS!” Hinata screeched, holding the briefcase close to his chest, stumbling over his discarded pants before he fell backwards, the side of the elevator barely catching him. 

In the open ceiling was Daichi’s head, smiling down at Hinata like he was God or something. 

“You scared me!” Hinata shook a finger at Daichi, slowly getting back on shaky legs. His ears were bright red, he was sure of it, and his face was hot. He thought to look around for his heart, sure that he screamed so loud that it somehow jumped out of his chest and onto the elevator floor, but he was, remarkably, still breathing. 

Daichi chuckled and shook his head, extending an arm to help pull Hinata up onto the elevator, 

“You really didn’t think I’d sit this one out, did you?”

Hinata gasped for a breath, glaring at Daichi slightly, but overall relieved that it was only him.

“What?” he asked between gasps, “Didn’t trust me?” 

Daichi gave a smile, a real, genuine, proud smile that made Hinata blink in confusion.

“Well, I do now,” Daichi admitted, grabbing onto Hinata’s hand and hoisting him up, “Alright, come on-” 

Hinata did his part, pushing himself up before his upper torso was out of the elevator, allowing him to pull himself up and out while Daichi took the briefcase. 

Once out, Hinata shivered, the interior of the elevator shaft was a little colder than he expected and he kinda wished he had his jacket coat. 

Rubbing his arms, Hinata glanced down into the elevator, 

“Is Kiyoko-san going to get those?” 

Daichi hummed and gave a nod before kicking the panel back into place, 

“Yup,” he was overlooking the briefcase before he set it down and shedded his own suit coat and button up. Hinata watched as he quickly folded it and stuffed it into a pocket into the briefcase. Daichi was now sporting the same black leather textured suit that Hinata was wearing, but he wore the same suit pants he was wearing previously. 

He closed the case and looked at Hinata with the same smile. The red-head blinked and shivered a bit, unsure if that was the cold from the shaft or a chill down his spine because he wasn’t sure what was happening with Daichi. 

“You did good, Hinata.” Daichi spoke up, still smiling, “I’m proud of you.” 

Hinata blinked a couple of times before going red at the ears and glancing away, doing his best to fight a smile, “T-thanks..” he muttered. 

Daichi put a hand on his shoulder and gave a squeeze, “I’m sorry about last night, too.” 

Hinata perked up at this. 

“I shouldn’t have doubted you. It was my fault, ultimately, that Kageyama’s fingers got smashed. You were just doing what you knew you could do.” Daichi finished with another encouraging squeeze. 

Hinata was a little shocked, not expecting that to happen, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. 

Maybe it was the cold, or maybe because Daichi was something of a Senpai, Hinata’s cheeks flushed and he lost the battle with his smile and grinned. 

“Thanks,” he sighed, a lot of tension leaving his body. He suddenly didn’t feel like having to run to the bathroom anymore.

Daichi smiled, seeing the tension leave. He only wished he had recorded this heartfelt apology so he could send it to Suga as proof that he apologized to Hinata, but he knew that if he did then Suga would probably demand one from Daichi too. 

“Alright,” Daichi clapped his hands together, the sound echoing throughout the shaft, making Hinata jump in surprise, “let’s hurry. We don’t want Kageyama dying on us, or we’ll both face Suga’s wrath.” 

Feeling a little confident, Hinata grinned, “What’s so bad about that?” Afterall, Suga seemed like a nice guy and Hinata already had to face Daichi’s anger, what could be worse?

Daichi let out a dry laugh as he picked the briefcase back up, “What’s so-Hinata, trust me, you don’t want to make Suga mad.” 

Hinata blinked. 

Was Daichi serious? Was Daichi actually a little afraid now? Was Suga that scary? 

Daichi nervously glanced at his watch before taking a seat, motioning Hinata to do the same, “Alright, we’re about to go down,” he informed, “Kiyoko should be arriving in the elevator soon, she’ll get the clothes and send us down to where we need to go.” 

Hinata quickly scrambled to sit down, afraid that if the elevator started moving without him, he’s fall to his death, lose a limb, maybe both, he didn’t want to find out. 

Once he sat down, the elevator jerked to life and began its ascent up at a rate faster than Hinata expected, making his stomach drop several floors below them. 

He held in a barf and looked at Daichi, who was sitting with a small smile on his face, as if he had done this many times before. 

Finally the elevator slowed down and it screeched to a stop, making Hinata cover his ears and scrunch his face up at the sound. 

When he opened his eyes, Daichi was standing up, looking down at Hinata in confusion. 

Hinata blinked and scrambled up, making the elevator sway just a bit. The quick motion made his head spin and he almost fell off the edge, but Daichi was quick and caught Hinata’s arm, yanking him back onto the elevator. 

“Thanks,” Hinata muttered before covering his mouth to prevent him from throwing up. 

Daichi shook his head, steadying Hinata with a firm hand on his shoulder, “Don’t mention it.” He paused before adding, “And don’t throw up.” 

Hinata nodded furiously, still covering his mouth, afraid that his snack of meat buns a few hours ago would come out instead of words.

Daichi let him go and turned around, spotting a large vent opening before he turned and looked at Hinata with a wide grin, “Here comes the fun part.” 

Hinata looked past Daichi to the opening and frowned. Going through a vent didn’t seem like ‘the fun part’. The fun part was blowing up vaults and getting cash loads of money. Daichi seemed to notice Hinata’s dilemma because he chuckled and shook his head, 

“I’m sure Kageyama could easily fit in there and-”

It just took Kageyama’s name, and Hinata was already scrambling up into the vent like his life depended on it. 

Daichi grinned, he knew how to motivate people, but it soon turned into a frown when he realized that he also had to go through the vent. 

“I’m getting old,” he muttered, shaking his head, as he leaned down to pick up the case and toss it into the vent. 

He stretched, bringing his arms above his head before taking a deep breath and hoisting himself into the vent, Hinata already crawling along with ease down the vent, as if Kageyama himself was racing alongside him.

“Do you know the way there?” Daichi called after him, making sure it wasn’t loud enough for anyone in an elevator to hear. 

Hinata screeched to a stop and managed to turn his head, looking back at Daichi with wide eyes and a blank look. It was very obvious that he didn’t know. 

Daichi laughed and shook his head, it was going to be a difficult crawl. 

***

“Did someone call for a doctor?” 

Kai sighed in relief and got up, smoothing up his suit so that he could step away from Mr. Arthur’s unconscious body to give the doctor some room to work.

He knew something was off with the man since he entered, but he didn’t think it would lead to something like this. It had completely caught him off guard, and if Kuroo found out? That they let a mafia man die in their security room? 

Kai swallowed and tugged at the top of his button up while he watched the doctor push on Mr. Arthur’s chest, trying to get him to breathe. 

“Come on dammit!” The doctor was shouting as he pushed down on the body. 

When CPR wasn’t working, he tried mouth to mouth before he came back up and shook his head, wiping his mouth with a cloth, 

“I’m sorry,” He muttered, tossing the cloth aside, “we lost him.” 

Kai blinked, shocked, his hand falling to his side. 

It all barely registered with him but a pair of paramedics were already wheeling in a stretcher for Mr. Arthur. And before Kai could say anything about the situation, ask questions, or make comments, the two paramedics were already arguing, leaving no room for conversation. 

“Dude, I told you to drive faster!” complained the taller one as he walked over to pick up Mr. Arthur by the shoulders. 

The smaller one glared, grabbing Mr. Arthur’s feet, “Bro, just don’t do that.” 

“What? I didn’t tell you to hurry?” The other teased. 

The doctor glared at the two of them before helping them hoist Mr. Arthur’s body onto the stretcher. 

“I-i-” Kai stammered, reaching out a hand as they wheeled the body away.

The doctor turned around and pushed up his abnormally large glasses, 

“Don’t worry, your insurance should cover it,” he waved a hand in the air as he turned back around and started after the paramedics, “this happens all the time!” 

It wasn’t too reassuring, but what could Kai do? 

He stood there, mouth open and eyes wide, along with everyone else in the room. 

But Kai had to take charge, now that that whole scene was over. So, he cleared his throat and straightened out his tie before turning to address his security team,

“Alright, uh,” he coughed, “let’s get back to work and forget about that, yeah?”

There were a few murmurs of confusion, but most of them nodded slowly and started to get back to work, as if people passing out and potentially dying in Las Vegas was normal. 

Kai sighed and wiped his brow, shaking his head as he muttered something about informing Kuroo about this later. 

Meanwhile, Suga practically skipped down the hallways with a gleeful chuckle, tapping on Asahi’s feet, much to the man’s annoyance. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka were also grinning, having a lot of fun pushing Asahi down the hall at speeds “dead bodies” shouldn’t be reaching. 

And poor Asahi couldn’t do anything since he had to play the part. 

“And...here...we..go!” Suga cheered with a wide grin once the stretcher was pushed past a pair of doors that led to the outside gaming floor of the casino. 

If their timing was right, and Suga was sure it was, Daichi and Hinata were reaching the vault, Kageyama was on his last bit of air, Ennoshita would be putting the pinch in place, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were back at the hotel room, and Kuroo?

Oh, Kuroo was at the game. Oblivious to the 160 million about to leave his vault. 

Suga couldn’t wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to @RuneOak for the title idea and for beta reading again! I was honestly stuck on what to call it, and they came through, so thanks so much!
> 
> And thank you everyone for reading! We're coming to a close soon here, but I'm grateful for all the support! It was my motivation to keep going. Hope you enjoyed your read and I'll be back next Friday with possibly the longest chapter yet! Stay tuned!


	10. The Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heist is nearing its end, but Daichi and Hinata have yet to reach the vault. They're relying on Ennoshita's pinch to knock out the power so that they can get past the laser security, so it's only a matter of time before they reach their destination. Meanwhile, Kuroo and Kenma remain at the game, unaware of what's happening right under their noses.

Kuroo made his way through the gamblers of Las Vegas, giving out charming smiles and waves whenever someone acknowledged him. He only stopped twice for short conversations with older men, friends of Nekomata, who were congratulating him on his position as next in line to inherit Nekomata’s Las Vegas casinos. 

There were a lot of handshakes and smiles, pats on the back, and declines to cigars, but Kuroo was soon back on track, headed to the restaurant to meet Kenma before they headed to the game. 

He sighed and straightened out his coat, he’d be fine once he got to Kenma. Too much had already happened that he didn’t want to have to deal with. But if he was going to impress Nekomata, he had to. 

Kuroo broke out into a grin when he spotted Kenma at the bar, twirling a straw in a fruity red drink with bubbles. He didn’t spot Kuroo yet, so the taller man snuck up behind him before hugging him from behind and picking him up off the barstool with one swoop and a loud, 

“Kenma!” 

Of course, this would scare anyone, but Kuroo didn’t expect Kenma to go rigid right after slapping Kuroo with a sharp twist around. 

Face stinging, Kuroo set Kenma down so he could rub his cheek, but his smile didn’t falter. 

“Ow, what was that for?” 

Kenma glared at him, trying to fix his now messy hair. 

“You know,” he retorted, re-tying his ponytail. Kenma huffed and gave the stands a tug, Kuroo taking note of the pink blush on his ears. 

“Okay, okay,” he held his hands up in surrender and leaned down to kiss the top of Kenma’s head. “I apologize.” 

“Good,” Kenma muttered. 

Kuroo pulled away and lowered his hands to fix Kenma’s crooked tie. “I hope I wasn’t keeping you too long. I had a couple of matters to attend to.” 

Kenma was looking down, watching Kuroo’s hand carefully. He gave a shrug in response to Kuroo’s statement, adding, “It wasn’t too bad. It got boring without my games.” 

“You could always go play the grown-up games,” Kuroo teased, nodding his head towards the slots. 

Kenma looked up and glared, swatting Kuroo’s hands away and taking a small step back. 

“No thanks,” he shook his head, “those games are based on chance, not skill. My games are a lot more fun.” 

Kuroo only chuckled, shaking his head lightly. He didn’t know why Kenma bothered being in charge of the gaming floor when he didn’t care for the games himself. 

“Well, I know if I let you take your phone, you’d be playing your games all day instead of watching the game.” Kuroo reminded, “I promise I’ll give it back to you afterwards, or else I got front row seats to our old highschool pastime for nothing.” 

Kuroo grinned at Kenma, waiting for some kind of response or reaction, but the man did nothing. He stood there with a blank look, as if trying to figure out something in his head. 

“Is something wrong?” Kuroo asked with a small frown. 

“Daichi stopped by.” 

Kuroo’s skin went cold at that statement, the smile slowly leaving his face. He blinked a few times and stepped closer, his expression a mix of concern and anger, 

“What happened?”   


Kenma seemed to understand what Kuroo meant by that because he shook his head, 

“Nothing. He just came here with Kiyoko-san and told me to tell you goodbye.” He looked up at Kuroo and frowned at the expression, “He left…” 

Kuroo let out a dry laugh at the last statement and shook his head. “He didn’t leave. I had Yaku and Lev follow him.” At the mention of Lev, Kenma’s face scrunched up, “Aone is taking care of him right now.”

Kenma blinked at the mention of their Iron Wall friend, “He didn’t leave?”

“He will,” Kuroo reassured, his expression going cold, “He won’t be hanging around here anymore.” 

Kenma frowned and looked away, holding his hands behind his back. He didn’t mind Daichi all that much, which would be surprising to anyone because he was Kuroo’s current lover and Daichi was his old one, but Kenma didn’t really care. He knew where Kuroo’s allegiance lied, so he didn’t have to worry. 

“But was that all he told you?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow, “Just to say goodbye?”

“Yes,” Kenma nodded. “Do you think he wanted to say something else?”

Kuroo went quiet, thinking. He knew Daichi, or at least, he thought he did. But it was hard to know someone when all they did was lie to you for half of the time that you knew them. It was of course weird of Daichi to admit defeat. At least, that’s what Kuroo thought he was doing by coming to say goodbye. And not to Kuroo’s face, too. If anything, Daichi was someone who liked to settle things face to face. But through Kenma?

Kuroo shook his head, he didn’t want to take up too much time after having Kenma wait for him to finish his nightly duties, he just wanted to enjoy his Friday night with his lovely boyfriend. 

“No,” he shook his head, “no, I don’t think he did…” 

There was some sort of catharsis that washed over Kuroo when he said that out loud. Just the possibility that this was truly over, Daichi finally moved on, and that they wouldn’t see each other again was very reassuring. It was like a relief, a breath of fresh air after years and years of breathing in smoke. But at the same time, it was strange. After all that he and Daichi had been together for, to leave it at that. An indirect goodbye. Kuroo knew he was the reason behind Daichi being convicted, but it wasn’t like he completely hated him. Deplored, maybe, but that wasn’t hate, was it? Well, whatever it was, it was an amazing feeling. 

The smile came back to Kuroo’s face, he rolled his shoulders back, releasing the tension there, and took Kenma’s hand gently. 

“Let’s just go to the volleyball game now, yeah?” he said softly. 

Kenma looked down at their hands, his lips twitching, threatening to turn up into a smile. 

“Let’s just go to the volleyball game and forget about these last few weeks, okay?” 

“Okay…” Kenma muttered with a small nod. 

“Okay!” 

His loud, sudden cheeriness made Kenma flinch a little, but he went along with it, letting Kuroo drag him across the restaurant and then gaming floor and then outside to their driver, all while listening to the rooster-haired man talk excessively about what he went through before he got to Kenma. 

They got in the car and strapped themselves in, Kuroo directing the driver to the stadium where the game was going to take place. 

He leaned back in his seat and sighed happily, closing his eyes as the car passed by the bright, blinking lights of the surrounding casinos on the Strip. 

He kept his eyes closed until they came to a stop, the car dropping them off at the entrance of the stadium.

When Kuroo stepped out, he took Kenma’s hand again and led him through the crowd, waving at anyone who was calling his name and using his tall frame to shield the rather shy Kenma from any flashes of a camera or microphones of a reporter. 

A few moments later, it felt like hours for Kenma, they finally arrived inside of the already crowded stadium. 

Kenma held onto Kuroo’s arm, not wanting to get lost in the crowd, as they made their way to their seats at the front. 

On their way towards the front, Kuroo caught the watchful brown eyes of Keishi Ukai, the former owner of the Karasuno watching him as he descended down the aisle. It wasn’t a comforting or normal gaze, there was something in it that Kuroo couldn’t quite place as a result of the overall chaotic nature of the stadium in the chatter of the crowd, flashes of cameras, and audio from the speakers overhead. 

So, instead, Kuroo flashed a charming smile that read, ‘No-hard-feelings-for-blowing-up-your-casino-right?’ as he walked with Kenma to his seat, finally taking a seat down, just two rows in front of Keishin and his former assistant, Ittetsu. 

The former casino owner just blinked and rolled his eyes at Kuroo’s smile before leaning over and whispering something to Glasses who reacted with a strained smile and a slight glare. 

It was likely that they were talking about him, but Kuroo couldn’t care less? What could they do?

He shook his head and looked over at Kenma with a smile. He was just going to relax for the night and not worry about a thing. 

***

Hinata poked his head out of the opening, looking left and right before bringing his head back in and looking back at Daichi, 

“I think this is it.”

Daichi raised an eyebrow, “You think?” He sounded exhausted, mainly from directing Hinata around the vent system to the drop down to the vault entrance and because he was a large man moving through vents. It wasn’t because he was older, it totally wasn’t. 

He lowered his head and groaned, “If you look down do you see the green lasers?” 

Hinata stuck his head out again and looked down before answering, “Yup,” the word echoing across the vault elevator shaft. 

“Perfect,” Daichi raised his head and grinned in relief. 

Hinata shuffled back a little and Daichi slid the case over to Hinata, who reached back to grab it before opening it and taking out one of the two lines and a clip. Once he clipped that line onto the belt around his waist he slid the open case back to Daichi who did the same. 

Now came the difficult part. 

Hinata crawled until most of his upper torso was hanging out of the open vent and he reached out and grabbed a bar under the elevator just a few inches above their vent. He drew a breath and pulled the rest of his body out until he was able to stand awkwardly up, his feet still in the vent. 

“You alright?” Daichi asked, his head poking out of the vent. 

Hinata nodded, “Yeah, I’m good.” 

Daichi peered down and then looked up at Hinata, “Don’t fall.” 

“Hahahaha,” Hinata laughed nervously, suddenly not very reassured and very nervous. 

He reached down on the hanging line and brought it up to the bar underneath the elevator. He gave the bar a few tugs and once he deemed it safe enough, he clipped the device onto the bar and let go of the bar. 

Hinata grinned and exhaled, wiping his forehead with his free hand. 

“Got it?” Daichi asked, looking up. 

“Got it!” Hinata responded, nodding his head. But now was the test to see if he really had gotten it. And if he didn’t, all their hard work was going to be thrown out the window. 

Hinata swallowed and closed his eyes, silently praying as he grabbed the wire with both his hands. 

“Please don’t snap, please don’t snap, please don’t snap,” he repeated under his breath before he pushed off from the vent. 

It didn’t snap. 

Instead Hinata swayed back and forth, hovering a few feet above the laser grid, successfully not throwing out all their hard work out the window and into jail cells. 

“Ha!” He cheered, opening his eyes and looking down. “I did it!” 

He looked over at Daichi and grinned, who returned the smile, relieved that he didn’t see Hinata just fall through the lasers, set off an alarm, and shatter all his bones once he hit the floor. 

“Oh thank god,” Daichi muttered, dropping his head and sighing loudly in relief, the tension leaving his body. 

Hinata looked up and gave a few tugs on the wire before he pushed himself off the sides of the elevator shaft to scoot himself over so that Daichi had some room to work as well. 

“Alright, let’s do this,” Daichi muttered, grabbing the last bits of what they needed and stuffing it into the utility belt around his waist. 

He crawled to the edge of the vent and licked his lips, looking down at the lasers. It was now or never and he wasn’t going to let something like this stop him. 

Minutes later, longer than it took Hinata, Daichi was dangling above the lasers like Hinata, hanging only a little lower. 

“That was terrifying to watch,” Hinata admitted, finally breathing. 

“Tell me about it,” Daichi muttered with a weak chuckle. 

Hinata looked around before blinking in confusion at Daichi, “Hey, how’d you get here anyways?”

“Had to pay a friend a few thousand,” Daichi answered, “Aone says hi.” 

At the mention of the man, Hinata grinned, his eyes lighting up, “Aone’s here?”

Daichi nodded, “Mmh, he’s beating up Daichi Sawamura right now,” he glanced at his watch.

“Oh,” Hinata muttered, his smile fading as the gears in his head tried turning to figure out what Daichi meant by that because Daichi was currently here. But instead of coming to an answer, a new question popped up and he looked over at Daichi with a frown, 

“Wait, what about Suga?” he asked. “And that whole argument? What was up with that?”

Daichi looked up from his watch and over at Hinata before shaking his head, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes and an amused grin on his face,

“Hinata, you’re hilarious sometimes, you know that right?” 

“Aw, what?” Hinata groaned, frowning. “Why do you guys do this to me? Why can’t you just tell me you and Suga’s little secret plans so I don’t freak out about the job going wrong!” 

Daichi laughed and shook his head, “Now where’s the fun in that?” 

Hinata would’ve tried to kick Daichi, had they not been hanging like they were or if Daichi wasn’t Daichi Sawamura, one of Bokuto’s best friends and probably one of the best con artists since Ukai’s grandfather. After last night, he was sure he didn't want to give Daichi another reason to be mad at Hinata. 

So instead, he looked down, pouting, and changed the subject. 

“Do you think these will hold?” He asked, still considering kicking Daichi or something of the sort. 

Daichi glanced down before looking up with a frown. Hinata could see that Daichi wasn’t confident, which wasn’t really reassuring, but the man just shrugged and looked back at Hinata, 

“It should.”

“Oh, great,” Hinata muttered, looking down. For good measure, he grabbed onto the wire with both of his hands, ignoring how sweaty his hands were getting in his gloves. 

Daichi glanced down one last time before he brought his wrist watch up to his mouth, 

“Alright, Kinoshita, we’re set.” 

The gleeful voice of Suga filled Daichi and Hinata’s ears, 

“Kinoshita, we’re set!” 

Daichi sighed in relief at the sound of Suga’s voice, grateful that things had gone well on their end. And by the sound of Suga’s voice, it seemed like things went a little too well and Suga was enjoying himself a little too much. 

“Alright, contacting Ennoshita now,” Kinoshita’s voice responded. 

***

Up in Asahi’s room, Kinoshita and Narita were busy with cameras. Once Kiyoko stopped by to grab Hinata’s clothes from the elevator, they switched the camera footage back to it’s live feed to ensure that no one suspected anything. 

If Asahi played his part, it was likely that they didn’t have to worry about anyone being suspicious about Hinata. 

But they were worried about Daichi, as they had lost him on the cameras a while back, after he was approached by two people who looked like guards of some sort. 

However, they were reassured that their leader didn’t die or get arrested because the sound of Daichi’s voice came up on the speakers, startling both of them. 

Kinoshita scrambled for the mic as Suga confirmed that his team of Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Asahi were good to go on their end as well. 

“Alright,” Kinoshita nodded, looking over at Narita, “contacting Ennoshita now.” 

Narita grabbed the walkie talkie and pressed on the button, 

“Ennoshita, we’re set.” 

He looked up at Kinoshita, the both of them looking at each other with nervous looks of concern on whether or not Ennoshita was ready to pull this blackout off. 

There was a few seconds of unbearable silence until the walkie talkie made static noise and Ennoshita responded with something they didn’t want to hear, 

“Yeah, hang on a minute.” 

Narita frowned, pressing the button again, 

“We don’t have a minute! Kageyama is going to suffocate!” 

Kinoshita nervously bit his lip, watching Narita hold the walkie talkie up to his mouth, desperately looking back at his partner, like they could magically do something from where they were in the hotel. 

“Well, you better stop interrupting me then, right?” Ennoshita responded, sounding rather annoyed and frustrated. 

Narita sighed and tossed the walkie talkie aside, knowing better than to further bug his friend to hurry up about the pinch. They knew that it was better to be a little late and it work rather than to rush things and it not work. 

Everyone’s life, not just Kageyama’s, was on the line. 

***

Ennoshita pulled up into a fairly empty parking lot and parked next to a lamp post that was flickering on and off , illuminating the three other cars that were parked around in the lot. 

Nobody was around though, which was what really mattered, but Ennoshita pulled down his cap a little more, just in case someone caught a look at him in the parking lot. 

Once he parked, he climbed out and headed to the back of the van. Before he opened the trunk, he glanced around one last time to make sure tat no one for sure was in their cars or hanging around the lot. Once he confirmed that he was indeed alone, he opened the trunk doors and rolled out the pinch before getting to work. 

He had worked with pinches like these before in the past, but this was the first time that he had worked with one of this size. Ennoshita appreciated that things were mainly the same, all things considered. 

“Alright, Kageyama,” he muttered, untangling the wires, “hold on for a few more minutes…” 

Once the wires were untangled and in their right spots, Ennoshita pulled a wrench out of his back pocket and made sure that everything was screwed on tight, in fear that it could explode if it wasn’t put together well. 

Ennoshita wiped his forehead and sighed before grabbing the remote alongside the pinch and taking several large steps back. 

He starred at the bubbling green liquid in the pinch’s canister before deciding to take a few more steps back, his finger hovering over the comically large red button on the remote he was holding. 

“Oh boy,” Ennoshita muttered before closing his eyes and pressing the button. 

Nothing happened. 

Ennoshita opened his eyes and frowned, a wave of anxiety hitting him at the sight of a still brightly lit Las Vegas behind the van. It hadn’t worked. 

“Are you serious?” Ennoshita muttered to no one in particular. “You have to be pulling on my leg.” He slowly started towards the pinch when all of a sudden the van started to rumble and the lamppost above the van started to spark. 

Ennoshita’s eyes widened and he scrambled back to where he was originally standing to avoid being blown up or something. 

The van continued to shake until the lamp sparked out and all of Las Vegas followed. 

It had worked.

***

“Are you watching the game?” Kuroo asked, nudging Kenma with his shoulder. 

“Mmh,” Kenma muttered with a slight nod, watching the game with a blank look. Kuroo couldn’t tell if he was enjoying the game or not, but he’d like to believe that he was. 

Kuroo himself was enjoying the game. It brought back old highschool memories about his participation in his high school’s volleyball club. And though most of the memories were pleasant and worth remembering, others held a bittersweetness that Kuroo didn’t want to taste at the moment. 

He turned, opening his mouth to say something to Kenma when all of a sudden the lights in the stadium went off one by one, covering the entire stadium in darkness and causing the crowd to react in a panicked manner with a mix of confused shouting and complaining as the MSBY Jackals were about to serve the ball. 

On instinct, Kuroo grabbed Kenma, his eyes wide and trying to adjust to the sudden darkness.

“What the hell is going on?” Kuroo grumbled under his breath, doing his best to stay calm. 

He felt Kenma reach out to grab his arm, the both of them now standing up. 

“What’s going on?” Kenma asked, having to raise his voice so Kuroo could hear him over the loud sounds of the crowd. 

“No idea!” Kuroo replied. Though he did have a slight idea, he told himself that it wasn’t possible so he pushed that thought away. 

There was no way this could be linked to Daichi. 

***

Daichi and Hinata waited in silence, knowing it was going to take a few minutes before the laser grid went off as a result of Ennoshita turning on the pinch. 

It was taking a little longer than what was expected, and both of them seemed to notice that. Hinata was obviously trying to ignore the anxious feeling, but Daichi knew that Hinata wanted to bring it up because the younger man kept looking over at him and opening and closing his mouth. 

However, when Daichi finally decided to open his mouth to assure Hinata that they were going to be okay, there was a rumbling sound and the lights turned off, followed by the lasers. 

Daichi could barely make out Hinata’s outline, but he knew that he was awaiting instruction. 

With only thirty seconds of complete black out, Daichi pulled out the green glow sticks and cracked them before instructing Hinata to do the same with his. 

Once they had some green light, they dropped the sticks and watched as they fell down with ease before bouncing a few times on the floor. 

“Let’s go,” Daichi nodded before letting his line drop him down. 

Hinata scrambled to get his to work, but soon he was following Daichi down the shaft until the lines picked them up, unable to go any further. 

“Cut them,” Daichi instructed, knowing that Hinata was probably going to ask what they should do now. 

He pulled out a knife and cut the wire, frantically, since he wasn’t sure how many seconds were left before the lasers came back on. 

Once it was cut, Daichi fell on his back only a few feet and Hinata followed, the both of them groaning at the cold steel ground and glow sticks on their backs. 

“Not too bad…” Daichi muttered, looking up. 

Hinata groaned beside him, “I think I broke something.”

***

Back at the hotel, Kinoshita and Narita let out a huge sigh of relief once the power went off, even though they didn’t have eyes on any cameras for the moment. 

Ennoshita had successfully done it. 

There was a knock at the door and Kinoshita got up to answer it. 

“Who is it?” Narita asked, worried that it might be housekeeping or someone else. 

Kinoshita didn’t respond, but Narita heard the door open, so it must have been one of their guys. 

In walked Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, both of them still dressed in their Nekoma pit wear.

Or at least, Narita assumed that it was them because had it been the other group, they would’ve entered a lot louder with excited cheers, Nishinoya would’ve run into a wall, Tanaka would’ve been yelling, and Suga would most likely be poking fun at Asahi. 

But instead, it was two people who quietly entered, unfazed about the blackout.

Seconds later, the lights flickered back on, revealing to Narita that he’d been right in his predictions of who had entered, since Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were standing in the room, the latter holding Tsukishima by the arm. 

“Nice job with the codes,” Narita smiled at Tsukishima, “that was pretty clever.” 

Tsukishima blinked, his eyes still readjusting, but he seemed to have heard the compliment. He didn’t smile, though Narita could tell he was hiding one, and pushed up his glasses, 

“Thanks..” He muttered. 

He glanced at Yamaguchi, who then quickly let go of his arm with an embarrassed blush and a nervous, ‘Sorry Tsuki!’ in their native language. 

Tsukishima didn’t say anything, but he turned and walked over to where Narita was, the computers slowly starting back up again. One by one the cameras flickered back onto the screens. 

Before he could ask anything though, there was a slight rumble of running footsteps approaching and suddenly, Tanaka and Nishinoya rushed into the room, Tanaka barely stopping in time before he ran right through the computer monitor table. 

“I won!” Nishinoya announced, pointing proudly at himself. 

While Tanaka protested against it, Asahi came in with a nervous, “Noyaaaa..” And Suga followed, grinning brightly with the large glasses from his doctor disguise. 

Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed at the newcomers, and a small, “Tsk” left his mouth as he turned his head to the side. 

Yamaguchi glanced back and forth between Tsukishima and the arguing Nishinoya and Tanaka with a look that showed he wanted to laugh, but didn’t because Tsukishima clearly thought he was above them. 

“Well boys,” Suga announced, stepping between Nishinoya and Tanaka, “we’re not done yet. Ennoshita cut the power, so you know what that means!” 

He grinned at them all, taking off the glasses slowly, “Let’s not let them down!” 

Tanaka and Nishinoya forgot about their fight and cheered loudly, pumping their fists into the air. Asahi sighed, grateful his bit was done, and plopped onto a chair next to Narita with a satisfied smile. Kinoshita shook his head and smiled, joining Asahi and Narita back at the table. 

Suga rushed Nishinoya out of the room, telling him to hurry to get to Ukai and Takeda before he headed over to the table, greeting Tsukishima and Yamaguchi with a smile. 

“Don’t rest too long!” He chirped, patting their backs, “we’ve got a big stunt ahead of us!”

***

If Kuroo had to guess, he would say that the blackout lasted a little longer than thirty seconds, but it was long enough to start chaos at the stadium. 

People were shouting, somehow a fight had started on the court, the scoreboard was blinking two giant zeros, and somebody was desperately trying to get a hold of Kuroo. 

“Hello?” Kuroo answered his ringing phone, still holding onto Kenma as he looked around the stadium, his eyes meeting Ukai’s for a second before the both of them looked away and towards their respected partners instead. 

“The casino is what?” Kuroo barked into the phone. 

He sighed and shook his head, he should’ve known that the blackout would cause something such as Kai had just informed it. 

It was a little chaotic at the casino. Some people took advantage of the blackout and were trying to further their chances at winning big by stealing chips, attacking dealers, or just making a scene.

This is not what Kuroo wanted to deal with tonight. 

Kenma looked up at Kuroo nervously, sensing that Kuroo was pretty pissed off, so he gave his sleeve a tug and muttered, “Kuroo…”

It seemed to work a little because Kuroo let out a huff and pinched the bridge of his nose, his shoulders dropping just a bit. 

“Right, yeah,” he muttered, shaking his head, “we’ve got to go.”

Kenma gave a nod of understanding and gathered his coat before gratefully heading towards the exit aisle with Kuroo’s hand in his as Kuroo walked Kai through what he should do in order to take care of what was happening at the casino. 

Second day of being in complete charge of the casinos and everything was already going to shit. 

With everything that was going on, what else could go wrong?

***

Daichi finally had eyes on the vault door. 

He and Hinata had pried open the outside elevator doors just a bit to peek into the corridor into the vault, their heads practically one on top of the other. 

A quick glance around and Daichi spotted the vault in all its steel secured goodness. 

Next to it were two guards with large guns strapped onto their backs engaged in a quiet conversation to the side. 

Daichi sighed in relief, they hadn’t spotted them, and pulled himself and Hinata away from the crack and shut the doors as quietly as possible. 

“Okay,” Daichi muttered, holding up a finger to the lower half of his face, motioning Hinata to be quiet. 

The young man nodded and Daichi had to fight back a smile at how excited Hinata looked to have come this far. His eyes practically had stars in them, and had they not been standing on an unstable elevator, Daichi was sure Hinata would be jumping up and down in excitement. 

Daichi squatted down and opened up the case, grabbing a circular disk, similar to a hockey puck. He tossed his head towards the door, motioning Hinata to open it up a little again. 

Hinata complied, a jolt of adrenaline helping him pull the doors open again just enough so that Daichi could slide the disk across the floor towards the guards. 

The moment he did, he quickly closed the door and handed Hinata something of a gas mask to wear as a hissing sound filled the hallway on the other side of the elevator doors.

He and HInata strapped it on before putting their ears to the door. 

Hinata heard the sound of a body dropping and went to reach for the cracks in the door when Daichi stopped him, holding out a hand and shaking his head. Soon the sound of a second body dropping was heard and Daichi nodded, the two of them prying the door open again and leaning in to look around. 

The hallway now looked a little foggy from the gas released in the disk, but the guards were on the ground, unconscious hopefully, and if the gas worked fast enough, it was likely that they didn’t get the chance to alert someone.

Daichi stopped and stood above them, giving their foot a small nudge to see if they were still awake. When he didn’t get a response, Daichi held out his hand towards Hinata while the orange haired man scrambled to get the zip ties out of his pocket. 

Hinata handed Daichi a few and kept some to himself before he dropped down and carefully tied the guard’s wrist and ankles together, his eyes glancing back and forth from the gun to the guard’s sleeping face. Even sleeping, he was pretty intimidating. 

Daichi got up before Hinata, wiping his gloved hands on his pants before glancing over at Hinata with a satisfied grin. He loved not getting shot. 

“Ready?”

Hinata nodded, getting up quickly before he followed Daichi over to the vault. 

The two of them stood in front of it in a comfortable silence, taking in the shiny glory of the vault, both of them in awe at how far they had come. 

“Wow…” Hinata muttered, his eyes wide and starry eyed. 

Daichi glanced over at him and grinned proudly. Despite Hinata’s skills and position as Bokuto’s apprentice, this was probably the biggest job he’s ever pulled so far. He was going to be sure to tell Bokuto all about this.

If they made it out of here alive that was. 

Daichi turned his head and let out a breathy sigh before cracking his neck, making Hinata jump just slightly. 

“Well,” Daichi grinned, “there’s a hundred and sixty pound greaseman and one hundred and sixty million behind this door.” 

Hinata looked back at him with his bright grin. 

“Let’s get him out of there.”

***

Kageyama took a breath, shaking his head slightly as he blinked a few times to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cart. 

He had kept his eyes closed and focused on his breathing the entire ride until here, and since he had stayed still for more than five minutes, he assumed that he was where he needed to be. And if everything had gone according to plan, then Kageyama only had a few more minutes of air left. 

“That Hinata better not have screwed this up,” he muttered under his breath as he raised his hands to feel for the top of the cart. 

He took one last breath before taking out the mini oxygen device and letting it fall into his lap as he used his other hand to push on the cart top. 

Kageyama held his breath as he pushed up on the top, wondering why it was heavier than it had been during the practices. He told himself not to panic, because then he would suffocate.

Thinking as reasonably as he could, he came to the conclusion that something must be on top of his cart and by process of elimination, it had to be the briefcase or something along those lines. 

How he was able to come up with that considering he was pretty dumb, he had no idea. But it could’ve been a result of his life being on the line, but he wasn’t going to sit around and debate it. 

He pushed it up with both hands now, putting as much force into it as he could before it popped open enough for him to stick his bandaged hand out of the crack. Kageyama exhaled loudly and took a deep breath as he scooted up a little so that his hand could move around and search for whatever was on the top of the cart. 

When he couldn’t find anything, he decided to give his hand more space to look and pushed it up a little more. However, when he did so, he heard the sound of something sliding down the edge of the top. In alarm, he realized that it was the sound of the case slipping, so he frantically moved his hand around, looking for it to catch it before it fell onto the sweeping security lasers on the bottom of the floor. 

“Shit, shit, shit…” Kageyama muttered, turning his hand around, desperately grasping around for something, anything, but he didn’t find anything and he could still hear it slipping. 

He braced for the sound of alarms, but suddenly, his hand brushed past the cold chain of the handcuff attached to the case, and he grabbed on like his life depended on it, because really, it did. 

Luckily, Kageyama had managed to grab the last bit before the case hit the floor, the black box dangled just centimeters above the sweeping lasers. 

He let out a sigh of relief and started to pull on the chain, bringing the case closer to him before he was able to push it to the side, on top of one of the carts next to him. This then allowed Kageyama to push the top of the cart open with both his hands and feet before it swung open and clattered on the side of the cart a few times before it went quiet. 

Kageyama huffed before reaching up at the ends of the cart, wincing at the pain in his fingers as he grabbed the sides, and pulled himself up feet first. 

Once he was hovering above the open cart, he held himself up with one hand and used the bandaged hand to push the cart top down, closing it carefully back up. 

He let out a sigh of relief and lowered himself onto the top of the cart before turning to the case and opening it up to examine the emerald jewels. 

Kageyama grinned and picked them out one by one before putting them in a pocket sewn into his suit, making sure that he got all four of them. 

Now with the explosives in his pocket, Kageyama closed the case and turned to the vault door before his eyes scanned the brightly lit room that he was in. There were multiple cameras around the room, but he knew he didn’t have to worry since Narita and Kinoshita were watching. The lasers continued their routes along the floor, so Kageyama knew to avoid touching the floor at all costs. 

Thanks to the rehearsals with the lifesize set at the warehouse, Kageyama already knew what to do, his eyes focused on the shelf of poker chips several feet across from his little island of money carts. Since he had practiced this several times before, getting to it would be a cinch. 

He just hoped that Hinata was on the other side. 

***

Now with the loudest out of the room, the rest of them had a chance to relax a little.

Kinosnita brought out drinks and handed them out, Asahi gratefully taking the glass of water and Tanaka grabbing the beer before Suga took it away with a shake of his head and a sweet smile. 

“Save it for later,” Suga sang, opening the bottle and taking a swig while Tanaka watched, unable to do anything. “We’ll have plenty of time to celebrate afterwards.” 

Tanaka huffed and folded his arms, but Suga was right, so he settled for the leftover food that Kinoshita and Narita didn’t get a chance to eat. 

Suga walked towards the cameras and took a quick look, watching the real footage of Daichi and Hinata heading into the vault hallways with their masks on. 

“Is the fake footage up?” Suga asked, pointing at the screen.

Narita nodded, “Of course, we’re running the loop right now.” 

Suga sighed in relief and set the bottle down, “Oh good…” 

He shedded his doctor’s coat and folded it nicely in his hands before placing it on the table. He grabbed his blue coat from the chair and put it on, 

“Well, that’s my cue to get going. Noya-kun is picking up Takeda and Ukai-san, so get ready.” 

Asahi let out a small groan and rubbed his face with a frown. Tanaka laughed and punched his shoulder as gently as he could, 

“C’mon Asahi! We’re almost done!” 

There was a knock at the door and Suga skipped to answer it and a few seconds later Ennoshita stepped into the room in his mechanic jumpsuit with a grin, the door closing in the background. 

He walked over and set his hat down, “Suga says I’m in charge, so let’s get to it.” 

“Chikara!” Tanaka exclaimed, getting up with a grin, happy to see his friend. 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and sighed, turning his head towards Narita and Kinoshita, “Where are we now?”

Yamaguchi nodded, popping his head into the conversation, “Yeah? Where are we?” 

In the background, Ennoshita handed Asahi and Tanaka large boxes before ushering them out into the other room, glancing back at Narita and Kinoshita before he turned back to tell Tanaka to put his shirt back on and stop intimidating Asahi.

“Well,” Kinoshita turned to the screen and moved the monitor towards them so that they could see, “we’re going okay…” 

Tsukishima pushed up his glasses and Yamaguchi got down on his knees and crawled closer, in between the two tech guys with Tsukishima standing above him. 

“Is that Daichi?” Tsukishima asked, pointing a finger at the taller figure next to Hinata. 

Narita sighed and nodded, leaning back in his chair, “Yes, that is.” 

“Huh,” Tsukishima muttered, narrowing his eyes, “I thought he was out of commission.” 

Yamaguchi gave a nod, a confused frown on his face as he looked to the older men for answers. 

Kinoshita rubbed the back of his neck in hesitation, “That’s what we thought too...But he and Suga always seem to have their own agenda.”

Narita nodded, “You guys are new to the group, but Suga and Daichi tend to do that from time to time. It can get annoying sometimes, if I’m being completely honest, but their plans usually work out in the end. 

“Usually?” Yamaguchi asked with a swallow. 

“Most of the time.” Kinoshita corrected his eyes on Hinata and Daichi as they approached the vault doors. 

The four of them watched in silence, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi watching Hinata and Daichi while Narita and Kinoshita were watching as Kageyama was slowly coming out of his cart in the middle of the room. 

“Oh shit,” Narita muttered, watching as the case started to slip down the top of the cart. 

“Oh no!” Yamaguchi exclaimed, throwing his hands up to cover his eyes, poking to look just a bit. 

Tsukishima even looked a little distressed, suddenly tense, his shoulders raised and eyes narrowed. 

It wasn’t until Kageyama caught the case that they all let out a collective sigh, Yamaguchi nearly falling over, and Tsukishima ducking his head and letting his glasses dangle a few centimeters off his nose. 

“That was close,” Kinoshita muttered, laughing nervously as he took his seat again, having stood up in alarm at the idea of the case crashing onto the floor. 

They watched in silence as Kageyama pulled himself out of the cart, they all had a quiet awe around them at how effortlessly Kageyama worked, despite the bandaged hand. 

Once he had finished taking the gems out, they watched as he got ready to make the jump from the carts to the shelf like he had done so many times before in the vault set at the warehouse. 

Out of habit, Tsukishima muttered, “Ten says he doesn’t make it.” 

The three heads turned to him with raised eyebrows and looks of ‘Really?’ until Yamaguchi shook his head and looked back to the screen, letting out a shaky breath, 

“No bets.”

Kinoshita and Narita nodded in response and turned back to the screen as they watched Kageyama position himself with his back to the shelf before pushing off from the cart with his legs. 

“Shit!” Kinoshita exclaimed when Kageyama went over the shelf. 

Luckily, Kageyama managed to grab the end of the shelf and he frantically pulled himself up before his foot could touch the floor. 

They all let out another collective sigh in relief and Tsukishima shook his head and walked away from the screens figuring he would just watch them watch the screens and have a drink. Yamaguchi stayed though, eyes wide as he watched the screens, silently wishing that he could’ve done more. 

“I’ve got the gear ready to go when Suga comes back,” Ennoshita announced, walking up to them, followed by Tanaka and Asahi. “What’s on tonight?”

“Daichi, Hinata, and Kageyama,” Kinoshita answered with a chuckle with a weak nod towards the screens. 

“Daichi?” The newcomers asked in unison. 

“B-but I thought Kuroo would’ve handed him over or something by now!” Asahi stammered, “I saw him on the gaming floor when I was delivering the case!” 

Kinoshita shrugged, “You know how he is.” 

Asahi sighed and shook his head before pulling up a chair for himself and plopping down on it with a groan. 

“If we manage to make it out alive, I’m going to use the money for therapy.” 

“Aw, c’mon!” Tanaka laughed, grabbing Asahi’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze, “How about a big house? Or a cool car?” 

Ennoshita rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face at Tanaka’s antics, “Well, at least he’s helping Hinata out. God knows the kid needs the help.” 

“No kidding,” Tsukishima muttered, taking a sip from his drink. 

“I think he’s doing rather well,” Narita shrugged, “He is being trained by Bokuto after all…” 

“Hinata?” Tanaka perked up and walked over to the screen, leaning over Ennoshita to get a better look, “The kid is awesome!” He grinned widely, “He’s got some talent and I’m an amazing Senpai, just saying!” 

Tsukishima scoffed at that statement and opened his mouth to make a comment when Ennoshita suddenly pointed at the screen in alarm, drawing all the attention onto him. 

“Guys, tell me I’m not the only one seeing this.”

Everyone who was close enough scooted or leaned closer to the screen, eyes fixed on Ennoshita’s finger which was pointing at a Kageyama who had managed to climb the surrounding vault walls until he reached the door. 

“What?” Yamaguchi asked in a worried tone. 

Kageyama had seemingly already stuck the explosives onto the vault door, but something was wrong. 

“He’s stuck,” Kinoshita realized, the color draining from his face. 

“Fuck,” Tanaka muttered with a frown. 

Kageyama was stuck indeed. It looked like his bandaged hand had someone gotten stuck in the creverace that he had stuck his hand into in order to keep himself up off the floor. 

“Aren’t they going to blow the door…?” Narita asked in a squeaky voice. 

The question caused Asahi to gasp and basically faint, Tanaka quickly grabbing him so that he didn’t fall out of his chair. 

Kinoshita scrambled for the microphone, sweating. Once he got it, he quickly started talking, doing his best not to panic as he watched Kageyama try to tug his hand out. 

“Daichi? Hinata? Don’t blow the door, I repeat, don’t blow up the door!”

He glanced nervously around at the rest of the concerned faces looking his way, all of them waiting for any kind of response. 

“Hinata? Daichi?” Kinoshita repeated, “Don’t blow up the door!” 

They still got nothing. 

“Maybe Hinata’s earpiece was blown out during the pinch black out?” Ennoshita suggested, fanning Asahi frantically. 

Kinoshita and Narita both shrugged, frantically trying to find a way to fix this while Yamaguchi looked close to tears, feeling so helpless. Even Tsukishima seemed concerned as he was now standing up, staring at the screen with wide eyes, his face paler than it usually was. 

No matter what they tried though, they got nothing. It was only a matter of a few seconds before they all would watch Kageyama get blown to pieces. 

***

Daichi walked up to the vault and gave the door a few taps, waiting for Kageyama’s response back to signal him to start putting on the explosives on their side of the vault door. 

When he didn’t get any response he looked at Hinata who just frowned and gave a shrug, silently hoping that they weren’t too late or anything and that Kageyama didn’t pass out in the cart. 

“Try him again?” Hinata suggested, sounding hesitant. 

Daichi turned back to the door and inhaled sharply before tapping on the door again, this time with his fist, worried that they might’ve taken too long in the vents. 

But this time, there was a response and Hinata and Daichi both let out sighs of relief. 

Hinata went up to Daichi and handed him their explosives, the two of them getting to work to carefully place them on the parts of the vault that Ennoshita had instructed them to. On the other side, Kageyama did the same, holding himself up with the small crevices in the vault door and walls, using his non bandaged hand to place his respective explosives on top of the fake emeralds that were being used sort of like a strong adhesive. 

Once Daichi and Hinata were done, Hinata tapped the door and they waited for Kageyama’s response. When their greaseman tapped back, they took two big steps backwards as Daichi pulled out a remote from his pocket, his eyes on the vault door. 

“Okay,” he muttered, barely able to contain his excitement, “counting down from twenty to give Kageyama some time to get back.” 

Hinata nodded, turning his gaze from Daichi to the vault door as he held his breath in anticipation for probably the fifth time that day. 

While Daichi counted down under his breath from the other side of the vault door, Kageyama was frantically trying to pull his bandaged hand out of the crack he had stuck it in or else he was going to be blown to bits. Several stories above, Narita and Kinoshita were practically yelling into the mic to try and stop Daichi or warn Hinata, but to no avail. 

Kageyama was sweating and he was shouting as loud as he could at Daichi and Hinata to not blow up the door yet, but the steel was too thick and Kageyama was trying to focus on pulling out his bandaged hand. 

“Ten...nine...eight…” Daichi muttered. 

“Hinata!” Kinoshita shouted, “Do not blow the door? Can you hear us? Do not blow the door!” 

Hinata blinked and glanced around, hearing his comm buzz with static and broken words of Kinoshita. Because he couldn’t make it out though, he shrugged it off, too excited about blowing the door up. 

“Three…”

Kageyama let out a frustrated yell and yanked harder. 

“Two…”

He closed his eyes and held his breath, bracing for the explosion. 

“One…”

Daichi pressed the button. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to @RuneOak again for beta reading it! 
> 
> And we are nearing the end! Two more chapters left and we see if the Karasuno crew is able to pull this off or not! So stay tuned! Thanks for reading this far, I really appreciate it! Writing this has been a blast and I can't wait to finish it! Thanks again!


	11. The Negotiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo gets a suspicious call from someone claiming that he's being robbed by him but the caller is willing to work out a negotiation to sort things through. However, each side has their own agendas.

Suga skipped down the hall to the elevator, having left the hotel room after dropping the three younger men off so that they could get ready for the final bit of the heist. 

He pressed the button down and rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited, humming softly to himself with a small grin on his face. 

He missed this. 

The thrill of the chase, of the heist. All the planning and precision it took to make sure that things went smoothly. The luxurious outcome if they survived. He had missed it a lot. Part of him wondered why he didn’t do more from stopping Daichi from falling into such an obvious trap. But, then again, that devilish part of Suga knew that he had deserved it. 

The elevator dinged and opened up. Suga smiled politely at the couple who walked out, stepping aside with a small bow before he got in after them and pressed the button to the gaming floor. 

Once the doors closed he pulled out his phone after clicking on Kiyoko’s contact and put it to his ear. She picked up with her usual quiet, “Moshi Moshi?” making Suga sigh happily. 

“Did you deliver the package?” Suga asked. 

“Yes,” She nodded, “You’re clear to make the call.” 

“Excellent!” Suga chirped, “Thank you Kiyoko! We’d be lost without you.” 

She didn’t respond to that, instead she simply wished him and the group good luck before hanging up. 

Suga kept the phone out, scrolling through his contacts. His mind wandered a bit as he scrolled past Hinata and Daichi’s contact, wondering if the latter had apologized to Hinata when they met. Then he started to wonder if they were okay and things were going smoothly. He pushed those thoughts behind though and clicked on a blank contact saved as just a number in his phone as the elevator got closer and closer to the game floor.

Suga shivered and shook his head at the weird chill that went down his spine as he thought of Daichi and Hinata as he raised the phone to his ear. 

He really hoped things were going well on their end. 

***

“Three...two...one…”

Daichi pushed the button, leaning back a little with a scrunched face while Hinata closed his eyes and immediately covered his ears with his hands. 

Nothing happened. 

Daichi clicked the remote’s button a few more times, looking down at it in disbelief. Hinata, realizing that nothing had happened, slowly turned to Daichi and opened his eyes, but kept his hands over his ears, just in case.

After three more clicks and nothing happening, Daichi started to shake the remote and it’s quiet rattles echoed across the empty vault hallway. He then looked to Hinata who just shrugged, just as confused as Daichi who was now hitting the side of the remote. 

“It’s not..” Daichi muttered, turning it over and clicking it several times again. 

Hinata stepped closer to get a better look, “Maybe you have to aim it at the explosives?”

Daichi pointed it up towards the explosives and shook his head, “That’s what I was doing...But it’s not-” he smacked it a few more times, “-it’s not working!” 

Meanwhile on the other side, Kageyama was clinging onto the door, his eyes squeezed shut and his breath held, waiting for the door to explode and with it, his entire body. 

But nothing happened. 

Sweaty and relieved, Kageyama slowly started to open his eyes and look around. He confirmed that nothing had happened, yet, and that something must be going wrong with the explosives or the remote. 

Not wanting to figure what it was out, he turned to his stuck hand, put all his strength in his legs to hold him up, and used his free hand to help pull the bandaged hand out as he blinked away nervous sweat from his eyes. 

He let out a huge sigh of relief when he was able to slowly pull his hand out, the cotton bandage coming apart from being stuck in such a place. Kageyama winced in pain, but his hand was free so he couldn’t complain. He would much rather have an unbandaged hand than a blown up body. 

Now free, Kageyama slowly started the way he came while Daichi continued to click away at the remote and complain about it not working. 

“Something’s wrong,” He huffed, glaring at it. 

Hinata frowned and dropped his hands finally, tilting his head as he looked down at the remote. When Daichi shook it again he looked up at his leader, “Did you check the batteries?” 

Daichi stopped and looked up at himi with a blank look. 

Did he check for batteries? Of course-wait, this thing runs on batteries?

Hinata grinned widely and took Daichi’s silence as an opportunity, rummaging around in his back pocket of his utility belt before pulling out two double A batteries with a flourish, 

“You know,” he teased, “you lose focus for one second-”

Daichi sighed and shook his head, unable to stop the grin that was forming as a result of Hinata using Daichi’s words against him. 

“I know-” Daichi replied, taking the batteries and turning the remote over so he could open it up and put the batteries inside. “-somebody gets hurt,” he finished in a mutter, clicking the back of the remote into place. 

Hinata beamed and Daichi looked at him before giving him a fond glare and adding, “I don’t hear Kageyama complaining…” 

He then turned back to the remote and gave it a shake, it no longer rattled and he looked to Hinata who shrugged, still grinning proudly, before he looked down and pressed the button almost absentmindedly, unsure that it would actually work. 

BOOM!

The vault door blew up, making Hinata and Daichi exclaim in terror and almost fall over at the force, the two of them unprepared for that to happen. Hinata had grabbed onto Daichi’s arm, and Daichi had brought up his other arm to shield himself should anything ricochet back and hit him in the face. 

When the smoke cleared, the two of them slowly looked from the smoking, shattered door back to each other, eyes wide and mouths open in surprise. 

Hinata was too surprised to even gloat about how he was right about the batteries and Daichi took advantage of that by walking forward towards the vault door before Hinata could say anything. 

Daichi walked over broken pieces of vault and glass from the nearby cabinets of poker chips, Hinata shuffling behind him, his orange hair peeking out from behind Daichi’s arm. Daichi looked over all of the mess, grateful for his boots, and slowly stepped in, only a little wary. He tossed aside the remote and looked around the vault for Kageyama. 

“Kageyama?” Daichi asked, suddenly very afraid that they might’ve blown Kageyama up as well somehow, despite not seeing blood or body parts. 

Hinata poked his head out before stepping out from behind Daichi so that he could have a better look around the place. 

“Kageyama-kun?” Hinata called out, knowing that would get a response. 

Their attention was then drawn to a loud bang and the rustling of some blown away carts in the far corner. Out of that rubble emerged Kageyama, his face coated with dust and his hair messy, but he didn’t look hurt too bad, aside from the torn bandage on his hand. 

“Boke Hinata, boke!” Kageyama shouted, kicking aside a piece of metal. “You almost blew me up!” 

Hinata’s eyes widened and he blinked, glancing at Daichi and then Kageyama, Daichi looking at him with an equal amount of guilt. 

“Sorry…” they both muttered, looking away to the side. 

“At least we didn’t blow you up…” Hinata muttered, folding his arms. 

Daichi looked between the two of them and shook his head, his gaze slowly moving towards the piles of money now exposed to them. “Let’s just get started, okay?”

Hinata and Kageyama made eye contact before looking away and huffing in compliance. 

***

It took them a bit, but Kuroo and Kenma were finally able to make it out of the crowded stadium without being trampled or anything of the sort. 

Kuroo had just got off the phone with Kai, informing them that they were on their way and that he shouldn't worry about anything. Kuroo would fix everything once he got there, at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. 

Kenma was walking alongside him, fixing his slipping ponytail when something in his pocket started to ring. 

The two men looked around in confusion, Kuroo patted down his pockets to see if it was Kai calling him back, but it wasn’t. He then looked to Kenma, raising an eyebrow at the sound coming from his pocket, 

“Did you bring your phone?”

Kenma blinked before looking at Kuroo and glaring a bit, “No, I left it at the hotel room.” 

“Then what is that?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Kenma reached into his pocket and pulled out a hilariously outdated flip phone from his coat pocket, something he had no recollection of putting in, or really owning, and looked up at Kuroo in confusion. 

Kuroo seemed equally confused but he shook his head, turning to hail a taxi. “Just answer it,” he told Kenma as he looked over his shoulder. “See who it is.” 

Kenma frowned and looked at the phone before flipping it open and answering it as Kuroo and he stood and waited for a taxi to take them back to the hotel. 

“Hello?” Kenma asked hesitantly. 

“May I have a word with Mr. Kuroo Tetsurou?” 

Kenma blinked in confusion before looking up at Kuroo and holding out the phone to him. “It’s for you,” he told him, shrugging when Kuroo raised an eyebrow. 

Kuroo took the phone and put it up to his ear, his patience running thin. 

“Who the hell is this?” Kuroo asked, narrowing his eyes a little as Kenma talked to the taxi driver who just pulled up before opening the door for him and Kuroo. 

Kuroo waited for an answer as he climbed into the car after Kenma, closing the door, very aware of Kenma staring at him with his cat eyes. He was anticipating an answer about what was going on and who was calling. 

Finally Kuroo got a response. 

“The man who’s robbing you.” 

***

Kuroo burst into the security camera room, Kenma following close on his heels, his face red from running through the casino from the entrance and from anger. 

“What’s going on in the vault?” He demanded, startling everyone with his sudden entrance. 

Those words seemed to alarm everyone and they scrambled back to their computer monitors before one pulled up the vault camera and turned back to Kuroo, shaking his head in confusion, “N-nothing, sir.” 

Sure enough, the camera screen showed a completely normal vault scene, everything in place and as it has always been. But this only seemed to calm everyone down a little bit, Kuroo’s shoulder’s relaxing, but his face still stern and tense. 

He turned from the screen back to the phone, grinning, “I’m afraid you’re mistaken.” 

“Are you watching your monitors?” the oddly familiar voice asked. “If you are, keep watching.” 

Kuroo turned back to the monitor, narrowing his eyes as the screen glitched from a perfectly normal screen to a completely different screen. 

This screen now showed three men covered in black stuffing black bags with piles of cash that was in the center of the vault room, surrounded by bits and pieces of the vault door scattered around the now dusty room. 

Kuroo gripped the phone a little tighter. 

“In this town, your luck can change just that quickly,” the voice said, matter-of-factly with a teasing tone that made Kuroo exhale from his nostrils. 

“Find out how much money we have down there,” Kuroo demanded, turning to Kai who was standing wide eyed next to Kuroo. 

His second in charge looked at him before nodding, “Yes, sir.” He then quickly hurried out of the security room, wondering why the hell these things were happening to him today. First someone dying in front of him and now this? 

Kuroo shook his head, avoiding eye contact with Kenma who was looking at him with a worried expression. 

“Alright,” Kuroo muttered into the phone, sounding more annoyed and frustrated than defeated, “You’ve proved your point. You’ve broken into my vault, congratulations, you’re a dead man.” His voice went cold and threatening, but it didn’t seem to faze the man on the other end at all. 

“Maybe.” The voice simply said on the other end. 

“Maybe?” Kuroo repeated, suddenly thrown off. He blinked at the phone a few times before putting it back to his ear. “May I ask how you expect to leave? Do you really believe that I’m going to allow you to bring bags of MY money out of MY casino doors?” 

“What? Pfft...no!” The voice on the other end laughed, “You’re going to carry them out for us!” 

“W-why, why would I do that?” Kuroo asked, more confused now than frustrated or angry. Who was this man and his claims? Why did he sound so familiar? And why the hell were there three men in his vault? 

“Take a closer look at your monitors,” the man instructed, “As your manager is probably reporting to you now, you have a little over a hundred and sixty million in your vault tonight.” 

Kuroo felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned around to face Kai who was holding out a piece of paper with the number $169,457,899 written on the slip of paper. He took the paper and narrowed his eyes at it before stuffing the piece into his pocket. 

“You also might notice, if you look at your monitor, that we’re only packing half of that.” The voice informed, “the other half we’re leaving in the vault, boobytrapped, as a hostage.”

Kuroo looked over at the monitor again but wasn’t exactly able to tell whether or not this voice was telling the truth. All he could do was squint and trust that the man was telling the truth, which, Kuroo knew, was a bad idea. 

“You let our eighty million go and you get to keep yours, that’s the deal.” The voice hummed, sounding sincere. “You try and stop us? We’ll blow both cash loads.”

When Kuroo didn’t answer, the voice continued on, 

“Mr. Tetsuro, you can either lose eighty million dollars secretly or you can lose a hundred and sixty million dollars publicly.”

There was a small pause and the sound of moving before the voice came back, 

“It’s your choice.” 

Kuroo pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned his head back, closing his eyes and trying to wish his headache away to no avail. 

There was no way he was going to comply with this man’s demands. If he was this smart to get into the vault, he sure as hell would’ve been smart enough to not let Kuroo know that they were robbing him. Was this the best that he could really do? 

He covered the phone and turned to Kai who was awaiting further instruction, “Make a call,” He muttered to him. 

Kai nodded in understanding and took out his phone, dialing 911 before stepping away to have a conversation with the operator who picked up. 

“911, emergency response.” 

“We have three men with explosives who have taken control of our vault,” Kai informed quietly into the phone. He then turned to Kuroo and nodded, confirming that they were good to go on his end. 

Kuroo turned away from Kai and back to the monitor, “Alright, we have a deal.” 

***

Suga walked through the casino floor with a bag of spicy chips he nabbed from a nearby counter with complimentary snacks for guests and a burner phone in the other hand as he chatted away with Kuroo on the other end.    
He had waited for what felt like ages for this, but he couldn’t get too confident or cocky since he knew Kuroo was almost equally clever as himself. Suga knew that he didn’t look like it, but Kuroo was a smart guy. More so in the sciences, but he was still smart. 

But Suga was outsmarting him. 

“Mr. Tetsuro,” Suga warned, “you can either lose eight million dollars secretly or you can lose a hundred and sixty million dollars publicly.” He flashed a smile at a tourist who looked at Suga funny at the mention of such a large amount of cash. When he passed, Suga turned around and started walking again, making sure not to stand around in the same place. 

“It’s your choice.” 

There was a long pause after that, perhaps Kuroo was thinking about it. Suga glanced around the room, making comments about what people were wearing mentally before Kuroo’s response dragged him out of his thoughts. 

“Alright,” Kuroo spoke slowly, no doubt pissed off, “we have a deal.” 

Suga grinned widely. “Perfect!” He chirped, “Here’s what you do...”

***

“I’ve never held this much money in my entire life,” Hinata muttered, eyes wide as he looked at the two piles of cash in his hands. Which was true, this was more money than Hinata knew existed, despite Bokuto being one of the top con men in the Eastern side of things, but Akaashi never trusted both of them around the stolen goods alone. 

Kageyama glared at Hinata from the opposite side of the pile of money, a duffle bag in one hand and a handful of cash in the other, “Hurry up, dumbass! We don’t have enough time to just be staring at the money!”

“He’s right,” Daichi nodded, zipping up his second bagful of cash like the pro he was, “Hinata, give your bag to Kageyama and take the others to the elevator.” 

Hinata looked up from the money and to Daichi before frowning and putting the money in the bag. He huffed and tossed the bag at Kageyama, almost hitting him, before grabbing already filled bags and walking them over to the elevator that he and Daichi just descended down under. 

He skipped as he delivered the bags, one by one, careful not to step on the sleeping guards tied up on the floor. He was also careful not to trip over the blown up pieces of the vault. While he went back and forth, he hummed a little song about how he was now the greatest, or on his way to be the greatest, con man out there. 

It earned a chuckle from Daichi and a glare from Kageyama, so Hinata’s little song died out. It had reached the last verse anyways, and all the bags were now at the elevator, so he didn’t really have a reason to sing anymore. 

“Alright,” Daichi muttered, once they had successfully gathered everything they needed into the bags and Hinata had placed them where he needed to, “now we just wait for Suga.” 

***

“The guys in the vault will deposit six bags into the vault elevator,” Suga explained, his eyes glancing over the heads of people as he stood to the side of the busy crowd, leaning against one of the stairways up into the second gaming floor, “the elevator will rise to your cages and three of your guards will pick up the bags and carry them into the casino.”

He pushed himself off the pillar and balanced the phone between his head and his shoulder so that he could open up his chips, “However, if they take more than twenty seconds to reach the casino floor or there’s any indication that a switch has been made, we’ll blow the money in the bags and the money in the vault.” He warned before popping some chips into his mouth. 

Suga glanced around and took the phone in his hands before he walked away from his post and across the casino floor past the eager gamblers, headed to his next look out spot where he would wait for the guards to bring up the bags. 

“He’s in the casino by the slots,” Suga heard Kuroo mutter. 

Suga rolled his eyes and laughed in amusement, “Of  _ course  _ I’m in the casino.” He paused, grinning smugly to himself, “In fact, I’m staying in your hotel and I have two words for you.” He chewed into the phone, “Mini bar.” 

He turned and stopped, now facing an elevator and waited, watching for their package. It was only a few minutes after he secured his location that the elevator opened and out walked three men, each carrying black duffle bags marked with large ‘X’s on the side in white duct tape. 

Suga narrowed his eyes and didn’t seem to see any indication of a switch or tampering so he smiled and continued to give Kuroo instructions. 

“Excellent,” he muttered, “Now, they take them out to the casino entrance. A white, unmarked van will pull up to the front in the valet station. The guards will load the bags into the van’s rear.” he watched them as they walked past him to the entrance of the casino, “If anyone of them so much as approaches the driver’s door, we’ll blow everything.” 

Suga watched them leave out to the front and popped some more chips in his mouth before crumpling the bag and tossing it in a trash, not feeling all that petty to drop it onto the floor of Kuroo’s casino. 

“When I get word that the van is away and that the money is secure, my men will exit the building and once their safety is confirmed, you get your vault back.” Suga looked up and started towards the entrance after the guards. 

He watched as they approached the white van that had pulled up and he grinned before stepping outside into the cold crisp air himself. Quickly, he shuffled over to a group of people, blending in with them.

He watched the van pull away and one of the guards pulled out a walkie talkie, no doubt talking to Kuroo about it because Suga could faintly make out the sound of a static-y voice on the other end of the phone. However, he didn’t pay much attention to it, instead, he watched as the van pulled away without problem. 

“Alright,” Kuroo’s voice came back, tired and annoyed, “Now, I’ve complied with your every request, wouldn’t you agree?” 

Suga pushed past the group he was with and down the stairs to the valet circle, “I would.” 

“Good, because I now have one of my own,” Kuroo chuckled dryly, “run and hide asshole.” 

Suga rolled his eyes and tossed the phone to the side, into some plant bushes. He knew Kuroo was threatening him, but he also knew that Kuroo couldn’t touch him. They had just got away with this, what was Kuroo going to do? 

An amused laugh left Suga, fitting perfectly with the people around him, saying drunken nonsense as they waited for a taxi to pull up and take them to another part of Las Vegas. 

But instead of a taxi, a S.W.A.T. car pulled up right in front of Suga. 

***

“Kuroo-san,” the voice of a timid Shibayama spoke through the static of the walkie talkie on Kai’s desk, “we delivered the cash bags into the van.” 

Kuroo looked to Kai, who took the walkie talkie and thanked Shibayama for doing so since Kuroo was occupied with whoever was on the other end of the flip phone. 

When Kai nodded back at him, Kuroo dropped the hand that had been rubbing at his temple, and inhaled sharply, “Alright, now I’ve complied with your every request, wouldn’t you agree?” 

He waited before the sickly sweet voice of the other man responded with, “I would.” 

“Good,” Kuroo spat, “Because I now have one of my own: Run and hide asshole.” Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Kenma raise an eyebrow and share a glance with Kai who looked more concerned and nervous as the minutes went by. 

“Run and hide, because if you should be picked up next week with a hundred and thousand on a sports car in Malibu beach, I’m going to be,” Kuroo chuckled darkly, “supremely disappointed, because I want my people to find you.” He looked specifically to Kai, “because when they do, rest assured, we’re not going to hand you over to the police so,” he shrugged, “my advice to you again is this, run and hide.” His voice was soft, but not the kind that was comforting or reassuring. It was the kind that sent shivers down people with the wrong kind of reassurance. 

“That’s all I ask.” Kuroo finished, his voice deathly quiet.

He stared at the phone, waiting for a response, but he didn’t get anything.. He narrowed his eyes and frowned at the stupid phone before cursing in Japanese and shoving it into his coat pocket with a huff. 

“Uh, Kuroo-san?” Kai cleared his throat, hesitant to try to talk to the clearly frustrated Kuroo. 

Rubbing at his temples once again, Kuroo looked over at Kai, his face tense and stern, but not directed towards Kai. “What?” He asked, voice quiet. 

“The S.W.A.T. team is here,” he informed. 

Kenma spoke up for the first time since they had left the stadium, holding a hand up and looking between the two of them, “I’ll go.” 

Kuroo looked at Kenma before giving a nod, his lips twitching a bit. He was grateful to have someone like Kenma, someone who was honest and kind. Someone who didn’t need Kuroo’s help normally to do things. 

“Alright,” Kuroo nodded, dropping his hands, “Kenma, you meet up with them and make sure to lead them to where they need to go. Quickly, before whoever’s in the vault escape.”

Kenma gave a nod before heading back from where they came. He didn’t really want to be around there at the time, seeing Kuroo like this wasn’t his favorite, so he up and left, headed to greet the S.W.A.T. team and direct them to the vault entrance.

After all, this was his casino too. 

Once Kenma left, Kai looked back at Kuroo, seeming done talking with someone over the comms. “Kuroo-san,” he said, “I just got word from Yamamoto.” 

After they had called 911, Kai had gotten into contact with Yamamoto, informing him of what was happening. So while the bags were being placed in the van, Yamamoto had his team of security guards assembled and ready to follow the van in cars. 

“What did he say?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“He says the van is headed to Ajinomoto airport,” Kai informed, “They’re following them now.” 

Kuroo bit the insides of his cheek before he turned to Kai and gave him further instructions. 

“Get everyone into position, I want my vault back before they hit the tarmac.” 

“Yes sir,” Kai nodded. 

The poor man barked orders at the surrounding technicians and security guards while Kuroo took a seat in an empty chair and buried his face in his hands, stifling a frustrated cry. 

This was not happening.

***

Yamamoto pointed frantically at the back of the van, “Turn here! Turn!” 

Fukunga’s eyes widened as he made the sharp turn around the corner of the small airport’s plane hangers, closely following the white van that had the bag full of money in the trunk. 

Behind them were three other cars with several Nekoma security personnel, all of them ready to retrieve the cash on the orders of Kai and Kuroo. 

Now on the tarmac, slowly inching towards the small plane, the van was starting to slow to a stop. The cars behind the van started to do the same until they parked only a few feet away from the van. 

Without wasting any time, Yamamoto opened the car door and leveled his handgun at the van, using the car door as a shield for his body. 

Seconds later, everyone else followed and there were about eight hand guns aimed at the van, awaiting Yamamoto’s orders. 

“Get out of the van!” Yamamoto ordered, his voice loud enough to be heard over the engine of the van. 

When no one stepped out, Yamamoto tried again, this time with more authority and force but again, he didn’t get a response. 

“Tires,” he commanded to the left then to the right, “shoot out their tires.” 

The next few seconds were filled by the loud bangs of gunfire aimed at the van until bullets eventually hit all four tires, lowering the van onto the tarmac and rendering it immobile. 

Even with the gunfire, no one stepped out with their hands out in surrender. This made Yamamoto narrow his eyes in confusion and frustration. 

“What do we do?” Fukunga asked to his left in his usual quiet tone. 

Yamamoto frowned before slowly backing away from the car door he was using as a shield, “Leave it to me…”

***

Kenma raced up the stairs into the employee hallways before bursting out through the doors and into the casino. Very rarely did he run, but they were about to lose a shit ton of money, so he supposed he could make the exception. 

The S.W.A.T. team was easy to pick out from the crowd. People parted their ways at the entrance, letting the large group of large people covered with back military gear from head to toe pass by. 

Kenma’s eyes widened at the sight of them and swallowed, trying to catch his breath at the top of the stairs into the gaming floor where he waited to greet them. 

“Are you the owner of this establishment?” One of the men asked, his face completely obscured by the large helmet he wore. 

“Oh, no,” He shook his head, “but I do work here.” Kenma tugged at his tie before continuing on, “I came to lead your team to the vault, so if you would just follow me-” he motioned them with the small movement of his hand before heading back the way he came, this time in a brisk walk. 

He did his best to ignore all the eyes on him, now that he was leading such an eye catching group. He knew that people were going to be very suspicious about this, some people even tried to stop them and ask questions about what was going on. 

However, whenever someone approached them, all Kenma had to do was step aside and show the person the large assault rifles strapped in front of the S.W.A.T. team’s chests and they were on their way again. 

“It’s just right through here,” Kenma muttered, loud enough for the closest one to hear. He directed them to the elevator that headed down to the vault. 

The team leader nodded and thanked Kenma, assuring him that they would get the vault back for them. Once Kenma started to back away, the leader started to give orders to them, as they started their descent into the vault. 

Kenma watched them, slowly backing away before he turned and sighed in relief, wiping his brow and hoping that they would be able to arrest whoever was in there and get their money back. 

His stomach swirled with anxious thoughts of failing Nekomata, Kuroo losing his job, and just from running around. He felt like he was going to pass out. 

But, he continued out of the hallways and back to the casino where a crowd of people had gathered around, clamoring for answers to why there was a S.W.A.T. team on the casino floor. 

Instead of answering, Kenma quickly turned around and shut the doors behind him, letting out a breath as he leaned against the doors. 

Hopefully Kuroo was feeling a little bit more assured now that the feds were here. 

***

Kuroo was not feeling reassured, even with the S.W.A.T. team here. 

He was currently standing over one of his employees, Kai next to him, with a walkie talkie in hand that was channeled to one of the S.W.A.T. guys’ comms. 

“Entering vault hallway,” came the static voice of the man, “Prepare to cut power.” 

The security guard at the monitor typed away at the computer, getting ready to cut the power in the vault hallway so that the team could sneak in. 

“Ready,” he nodded, turning to look up at Kuroo. 

Eyes not leaving the monitor showing the S.W.A.T. team slowly approached the vault hallway, Kuroo pressed the button to the walkie talkie, “Alright, cutting power now.” 

He looked at the man at the computer before nodding, “Do it.” 

The guard pressed the spacebar and the camera went dark, and everyone was unable to see what exactly was happening in the hallway. 

“Breaching elevator doors now,” The voice of the leader informed seconds later. 

Kuroo held his breath, waiting to see what they would find. Usually he would be running his options and alternative scenarios. He was always quick to come up with backup plans and logical solutions, but this time around, his mind was deathly quiet. Next to him, Kai watched carefully and quietly, his hands folded as his foot tapped nervously on the floor. 

“There’s two guards,” the voice spoke up, “bound and unconscious.” 

Kai and Kuroo both exhaled at the same time in relief. 

“Wait a minute-”

There was a loud bang on the other end of the walkie talkie and shouting, “Guys! Someone’s here, someone’s here!”

“Take him down now!"

“I’ve got them! I’ve got them” Someone else yelled before it was followed by multiple shots of gunfire. 

The sudden chaos caused Kai to jump and Kuroo to tense. They were still in the dark about what was happening, unsure who was firing the shots and who was getting the shots fired at them. 

“Lights! Lights!” The voice frantically said into the walkie talkie, “We need lights now!” 

“Give it to them,” Kuroo commanded the guard. 

The black haired man nodded quickly and typed into the keyboard again before the lights flickered back on in the hallway, allowing the three of them to see what was happening in the hallway. 

There were several figures of black masked S.W.A.T. members in the hall. Three were kneeling besides the two unconscious guards, helping them up and untying them, while two others were looking over some bags and the rest of them were exiting a smoking vault. 

Kuroo let out a distressed groan at the sight of the smoking vault room, broken lights were sparking, there was rubble and visible pieces of money and poker chips all over the floor. It seemed like the threat of booby trapped money was true and someone just blew it all to hell. 

“What’s going on?” Kuroo asked, voice strained, “Talk to me.” 

“Well,” the voice on the other end sucked in his breath, “it appears that a high explosive engineered device has been detonated. I repeat, has been detonated.” 

Kuroo dropped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He guessed that the threat wasn’t an empty one. 

“We’re continuing our search for survivors,” The voice added. 

Kai licked his lips nervously and looked over at Kuroo before glancing back at the cameras. He then opened his mouth to say something, but was met by Kuroo shoving the walkie talkie into his hands. 

“Tell Yamamoto to take the van,” Kuroo instructed Kai, “I’m going down to the vault.” 

The whole room watched as their boss walked around the room towards the exit, a steaming aura around him as he left. 

“In the meantime,” Kuroo reached the exit door and yanked it open, his knuckles white, “Find out how they HOOKED INTO MY SYSTEM!” 

Kuroo’s loud shouting and even louder slam of the door set everyone on edge. It wasn’t normal for Kuroo to get mad, even this mad was very rare. Usually Kuroo was a laid back guy who rarely got angry and frustrated, even with knuckleheads like Lev. If anything, the maddest they’d ever seen him was during a meeting when Yaku challenged him or when the NGC manager, Daishou Suguru came and insulted his hair. But Kuroo had never been this mad before. 

Kai sighed and shook his head, shaking the chills out of his system before he glared at everyone best he could and ordered them to get back to work. He wasn’t going to let another crazy thing happen again tonight. 

Once everyone was back on track, he pulled out his phone and made contact with Yamamoto. “Kuroo-san wants you to take the van,” he instructed once Yamamoto picked up, “Do whatever you have to do.” 

***

Yamamoto put down his phone, tossing it back into the car before continuing his slow stepping away from the car towards the van. 

He kept his gun leveled and aimed at the driver’s door as he slowly approached the van, walking as if he was on a tightrope. He approached with one foot in front of the other, his eyes narrowed and face scrunched up to look as intimidating as possible as he slowly got closer to the door. 

Yamamoto knew that if anything happened to him, some madman jumped out of the car with a gun and shot him, he wouldn’t have to worry. There couldn’t have been more than three men in the van if the entire back trunk was loaded with the cash bags, and Yamamoto had at least eight backing him up behind him, all of them with guns as well. 

So, if anyone was in trouble, it was whoever was in the van. 

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. 

Finally, he reached the door, and with little trouble at that too. No one popped out of the van and Yamamoto started to get suspicious. Drawing a breath he slowly reached out and grabbed the car door, opening it with ease. 

He jumped in front of it and held his gun with both hands, aiming it at the driver. 

Except, it was a would-be driver, because instead of a human, Yamamoto was met with the blank stare of a camera on top of a robot driver. 

“What the hell?” Yamamoto muttered, blinking in confusion as he slowly lowered his gun, the robot not threatening at all. 

“What happened?” Fukanga asked, confused as to why Yamamoto was just standing there. 

The guard turned his head towards his team and frowned before pointing, back at the door, “There’s no driver!” 

Fukanga’s already wide eyes widened in confusion and everyone started to slowly lower their guns. “What?” He asked. 

Yamamoto just shrugged before the car, despite it’s blown out tires moved forward on their own. 

Alarmed, Yamamoto took several steps backwards and looked back at his team, “Someone call Kuroo!” 

***

Kuroo stepped into the vault, waving the smoke out of his face and carefully stepping over the clutter that was scattered across the floor. Around him, the S.W.A.T. team was conducting their investigation or helping his guards to their feet. 

He kept his cool for the most part, since he was in front of military personnel, but he was steaming on the inside. The kind of quiet anger that you didn’t want to disturb. 

However, the S.W.A.T. members seemed unfazed. The leader approached him and gave him a run down of the situation in a hoarse voice, 

“There’s no suspects and we are not able to determine at the time how they got in or how they got out of the premises.” 

That was not something Kuroo wanted to hear right now. 

“Take your men out,” He muttered, covering 

his eyes with his hand. 

“Sir,” the man interrupted, “may I suggest you stand outside until the bomb squad-”

“Now.”

There was a pause before the man gave a brief nod and slowly backed away from Kuroo, turning around to motion everyone out of the vault. 

“Alright, it’s your vault,” he muttered. “Orange team! Moving out!” He addressed this to the rest of them, voice raised as he waved his hand in the air, his other gripping the gun. 

The men looked up from what they were doing and silently followed orders, picking up their things and leaving the vault carefully until Kuroo was all alone in the blown up vault. 

He let out a sigh and tilted his head, rubbing his hands over his face before taking out his phone since it was ringing with Yamamoto’s ringtone.

He picked it up and answered. “Yamamoto, where are we with the van?” He asked, hoping that they could at least save whatever thousands of dollars that were in the van. 

It took a bit before he was met with the voice of Fukunaga, sounding a little more hesitant than usual. 

“We took the van,” he said. The lack of confidence in his voice made Kuroo uneasy. If they took the van, it should’ve been a win. They should’ve had their money and shot the drivers dead. So why the hell did it sound like something happened?

Kuroo closed his eyes, “And?”

“And...And there’s no money in the bags sir.” 

Kuroo wanted to pull his hair out at this point, “What do you mean there’s no money in the bags?!” 

“Uh,” Fukunaga hesitated, “How do I explain this?”

***

Nishinoya watched the cars approach the van from the driver’s seat, Ukai in the passenger’s seat and Takeda in the back, the two of them still clutching onto their hearts and the car handles. They should’ve known that Nishinoya would drive the streets of Las Vegas like it was some Grand Theft Auto game, but at least they had their seat belts on. 

“They’re approaching the van now,” Nishinoya muttered, bouncing in his seat as he watched a bleached mohawk guy, who reminded him a lot of his bro Tanaka, slowly walk up to the van with his gun raised. 

He watched him closely as he approached the door and swung it open before jumping back in surprise, causing Nishinoya to laugh loudly. 

Ukai and Takeda both flinched at the loud noise, snapping out of their near death experience facial expressions and looked over at Nishinoya with wide eyes. 

“Okay, I wanna try something here for a second,” Nishinoya muttered, pulling out a remote as the man started shouting back to the others at the car.

Nishinoya grinned widely and pushed a button on the remote before pushing forward the lever a little. He glanced back up at the van, watching as it drove forward, closing the door with some momentum. He laughed, watching as they looked at each other in confusion as the car slowed to a stop. 

“Oops! Oh, I’m sorry,” Nishinoya teased in a mocking baby voice, “Did you wanna-” he pushed the lever forward more and the car continued to inch closer onto the tarmac. “Did you wanna get in?” He snickered. 

“Stop fooling around!” Ukai ordered, finally letting go of the grip handle on the roof of the car. “Just do what you have to do already!” 

Takeda glanced between the two and sighed, shaking his head. He leaned forward and gave Nishinoya’s shoulder a squeeze, “We should hurry.” 

“Fiiiiiine,” Nishinoya groaned, leaning his head back. 

He looked over the remote before pushing a button and the back of the van exploded. 

***

“The bags are filled with  _ what _ ?”

Fukunuga hesitated, watching as the back of the van burned in a fiery gaze of orange and yellow, the explosion catching them all off guard. 

It wasn’t a few seconds later that everyone slowly started to make their way towards the van as paper bits flew around, smoking and burnt. It was possible that they thought that they might be able to grab a few dollars if they were lucky.

Yamamoto looked down at the burning paper in his hands, narrowing his eyes before shaking his head and stuffing the paper into his pocket, glancing back at Fukunaga next to him.

“The bags are filled with flyers.” Yamamoto replied, taking the phone from Fukunaga, “For hookers.” 

Fukunaga’s head snapped so quickly up at that, blinking a few times and refusing to look down at the burning paper at his feet. Instead he glared at Yamamoto and held a hand out until the man reluctantly gave the flyer he took back to Fukunaga who threw it into a small burning pile. 

They didn’t get a response from Kuroo after that and only assumed the worst was happening on the other end. Of course, they weren’t sure how angry Kuroo could get, so they tried not to imagine it. 

Instead, they looked at the burning back of the van with confusion of what exactly was happening while a car holding three men slowly pulled away without raising any eyebrows. 

***

“The bags were filled with flyers, for hookers.” 

Kuroo wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that. Part of him was still fuming in anger and frustration at the events that occurred and the other part of him was confused, left in the dark, about how exactly these events were happening. 

And now this?

However, before he could throw a fit, yell at someone, or punch a hole in the wall, Kuroo paused, staring down at the tile below him. 

Under his feet were broken pieces of the vault, scattered poker chips, coins, bits of burnt money, and what looked like to be the same flyers that Fukunuga and Yamamoto were just telling him about. Under all that though were the words “NEKOMA” carved in cursive red lettering into the now dusty white tile.

Kuroo swiped his foot over the flyers and everything else, the gears slowly turning in his head as he took a closer look at the tile beneath him. 

He quickly pulled up his phone again and called Kai’s number, grateful that it only rang for two seconds before the other man picked up. 

“Kai-”

“Yes?”

“-cue up the tape of the robbery.” Kuroo instructed, his mind racing. 

Kai went silent on the other end, knowing better to ask about the van, before he responded back to Kuroo, “Cuing up the tape now.” 

Kuroo waited a few seconds, giving them time to play the recorded footage of the robbery before asking, “Does it say Nekoma on the vault floor?”

There was a pause before Kai answered, the shaking of his head audible from Kuroo’s end. “No…” He hesitated, no doubt looking very closely at the tape, “No, it doesn’t.”

Kuroo threw his head back, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, his worst fears now a reality. 

“I don’t understand,” came the confused voice of Kai. 

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kuroo opened his eyes back up and spoke slowly and quietly. “We had it installed on Tuesday,” he reminded, “The images we saw of those men robbing us was a tape, a recording.” 

“What?” The confusion was clear in Kai’s voice. 

Rubbing his forehead to ease his increasing headache, Kuroo explained in a deathly calm voice, “It was staged, someone made a replica of my vault and what we saw on the monitor wasn’t actually happening.”

Kuroo could hear Kai slowly start to piece everything together and it wasn’t long before he was asking the question that had been in Kuroo’s head the moment he stepped into the vault and found it empty of the stacks of money. 

“If that’s the case, then what happened to all that money?”

***

Suga flipped up his visor and grinned widely, popping the pink bubblegum as he strutted down the casino with the majority of his team following behind him in a line, each of them carrying two large, black bags at their sides. 

People stared as they walked through the casino, but they managed to make their way out the front before they tossed the bags into the back of the black painted S.W.A.T. van waiting for them just where they had left it.

Tanaka started the van and Suga flipped on the flashing red and blue lights before they drove away from the casino, leaving only dust and Daichi. 

They had done it. 

The Nekoma job was complete. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the late chapter! I'm going to be honest, I procrastinated on this chapter for some reason, but it's here! Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> But oh man! We're almost done with this! How's everyone feeling? 
> 
> In all seriousness though, this is probably the first fic I've ever started and finished so thank you everyone who's read it! And another huge shout out to RuneOak for beta reading once again! It wouldnt be any good without their help!

**Author's Note:**

> I take no credit whatsoever for the characters or the plot and dialogue. 
> 
> All characters belong to Furudate-Sensei. The orginal storyline and most of the dialogue is from Ocean's 11, which belongs to director Steven Soderbergh and everyone else associated with the creation of the Ocean's characters, plot, and dialogue.


End file.
